Protest by members of Edo Civil Society Organisations (EDOCSO) on Monday paralysed commercial activities in Benin, the Edo State capital, and its environs.
Members of EDOCSO, who were armed with placards, bearing various inscriptions, took the protest march from the popular Ring Road and moved to Akpakpava Road, and other busy roads in Benin.
Inscriptions on their placards included: “Nigerians are starving to death”, “Tinubu, end hunger and suffering in Nigeria” and “FG, end hunger in Nigeria now” among others.
EDOCSO’s interim chairman, Austine Enabulele, while addressing reporters at the venue of the protest, stated that the 14-day ultimatum given to President Tinubu to fix the Nigerian economy had since elapsed, with nothing done to address hunger in the country.
Enabulele said: “On February 10, 2024, we held a news briefing and gave the Federal Government two weeks to fix the problems of Nigeria and end hunger in the country. Two weeks have long expired, and nothing has been done.
“So, we have come out today to tell President Tinubu to fix the hunger and suffering in Nigeria. Enough is enough. We cannot take the pains anymore. Enough of the hunger, enough of the hardship, enough of bad governance in Nigeria.
“Nigerians are dying every day. Children are now becoming orphans, because their fathers are dying, because of the hardship in Nigeria.
“The President should give value to our naira, because Nigerians do not use Dollars. We cannot be living our lives in Dollars.”
A cleric with Omega Fire Ministries (OFM), Benin, Pastor Azemhe Azena, who is the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) for the September 21 election in Edo, during the protest, declared that the situation was getting out of hand while admonishing the government at all levels to urgently take steps to checkmate it.
Azena said: “Hunger is biting harder in our country. The people are suffering. We are here to draw the attention of the government to the state of the economy in the entire country. The leaders should do something fast because a hungry man is an angry man.
“To prevent anger, crime, and violence in society, you have to attend to hunger. The prices of things are going up in Nigeria per hour. So, we should control, and regulate the prices of goods. So, that the poor can breathe, and afford the items.
“I am a pastor, I can feel it in the faces of members of my congregation. The load is becoming too much on the clerics because they need to pay people’s school fees, feed them, transport them, and pay hospital bills. We meet them daily, but government officials do not meet them on a daily basis. Government officials only meet them during elections.”
The NNPP’s governorship candidate also urged the government officials to quickly do something about the difficult situation in Nigeria.
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