Police Disrupt Petrol Hike Protest, Arrest Comrades & Journalists

LUCKY LAWAL

Some members of Socialist Party of Nigeria, SPN Lagos State Chapter, were reportedly arrested by Police operatives from the Area C Command together with some journalists at Western Avenue, Surulere area of Lagos, while they were protesting the fuel hike and electricity tariff hike and equally demanding for re-registration of SPN and other deregistered Political Parties.

The protesters, who started their march from the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC House in Yaba on Thursday morning, moved towards the Western Avenue axis of Surulere where they were stopped and taken away.

Comrade Rufus Olusesan in his press release stated that the increment is an attack coming at a time of massive job losses and mass suffering and aimed at making the few rich people richer and the masses poorer.

Despite privatizing the power sector in November 2013, the Government has invested over $20 billion and still plans to spend another $6 billion. He accused the Government that the power companies have failed to invest but continuously steal from the people through outrageous estimated billing, sales of prepaid meters at exorbitant prices, poor electricity supply and incessant tariff hike.

Comrade Olusesan called on the full weight of the labour movement to challenge what he called anti-poor regime and resist their attacks.

According to him, there has been legitimate mass anger among the working people over the increase of the price of petrol from N148 to about N162 per liter considering the damaging economic effect it has on the living standard of the people.
As a major oil and gas producing country, Comrade Rufus stated that the Nigerian capitalist government is managing the oil wealth to suit the profit interest of a privileged few while the masses are made to suffer, which is the reason the government is implementing deregulation and the continuous petrol price increase which comes with it.

He called on the two labour centres, NLC and TUC, to mobilize for a 48 hours general strike as the beginning of a series of sustained mass actions to resist attacks and neo liberal policies.

Speaking about the Socialist Party of Nigeria, he said, “SPN was formed as a step towards building a mass working people’s political alternative and our core programme is the nationalization of the commanding height (major resources and companies in Nigeria) of the economy and placed under the democratic control of workers and community representatives to galvanize the enormous resources of society to meet the basic needs of all and bring about efficiency”.

He further said, “SPN has been deregistered undemocratically by INEC despite a Court of Appeal judgement to the effect that INEC’s deregistration of SPN and other political parties was unlawful and that SPN should be re-registered, which INEC has declined”.
He believes INEC and the Government are out to shut out a party like SPN to enable the obviously failed capitalist political parties like PDP, APC, APGA, to continue to dominate the political space unchallenged.

He called on workers, youths and the poor masses to join to demand that INEC obeys the Court of Appeal judgement without delay and be guided by democratic ethos.

During the peaceful protest, Policemen from Area C Command blocked and arrested the protesters. Some of the Comrades arrested were Chinedu Bosa, Comrade Dagger, Comrade Pelad, Comrade Soweto, Comrade Barrister Ayo Ademiloye and about fifteen others including six journalists. They were all taken to the Task Force Mobile Court.