Security operatives, Monday, locked up members of a coalition of civil society, students and youth group protesting cement and petrol price hike in Benin City, Edo state capital. The groups were converging at the National Museum premises at ring road – venue of the take off point of the streets protest, when the operatives swooped on them and locked up the entrance gate at about 7.30am.The armed security personnel includes Nigeria Police, Department of Security Service (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), local vigilante group.The security operatives action also prevented staff of the national Museum who were yet to resume work at the time from gaining access; including and others who have businesses within the premises
Blueprint also gathered the move was to prevent a possible reoccurrence of the #EndSARS protest that was hijacked by hoodlums last year.
One of the leaders of the protesters, Comrade Kelly Osunbor, said: “the CP of Edo state mobilised hundreds of thousands of policemen with all the sister agencies, they locked us, they arrested us, they put us here, restricted our movement to move out to the street to protest.”And I want to ask, is this the democracy that our ancestors fought for that was gotten with the blood of the Nigerian students in Lagos State University and other Universities? This is not democracy. We have freedom of our movement. We have the constitutional rights to talk.
“The price of cement affects the police, It affects DSS, it affects the market women and it is only the politicians it does affect and even though cement is one million, they can afford it,” he said.
“If cement is sold for N4000, how much is a minimum wage? If a trip of sand is sold for N30,000, how much is a minimum wage? That means that the average income earner in Nigeria cannot dream of owning a house in his life time.”
