Police Prevent Angry Youths From Protesting Hardship In Kano

Hundreds of youths in Kano on Tuesday planned to express their displeasure over recent increments in pump price of petroleum and hike in energy tariff but were dispersed by security operatives.

Security agents, including the police, Department of State Services and the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps, prevented the angry youths from staging their protest in the metropolis on Tuesday morning

The protest, led by a civil society organisation, Joint Action Forum (JAF), started as a rally in front of the premises of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) along Farm Center Road Tuesday morning, amidst heavy security presence.

However, after they were blocked by the security operatives, the JAF Chairman, Dr Musa Bashir, and Secretary, Abba Bello Ahmed, issued a statement on their demands.

The group called on the Federal Government to reverse the price of fuel from N160:00 to the 2012 price of N86:00 and also reverse the increases in electricity tariffs and Value Added Tax (VAT).

“The government has the responsibility to make our refineries work and build new ones in order to ensure availability of petroleum products at cheaper and affordable prices, ” the statement said.

The group also called on the federal government, “to re-engineer the security apparatus of the country to ensure organised crimes such as terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery are reduced to the barest minimum if not curtailed. ”