Market News
Fuel Scarcity, Unavailability Of New Naira Notes Escalates Hardship On Riverine Citizens Of Niger Delta, Says RPIND President - INDEPENDENT
BENIN – As Nigerians are facing the hardest time in history following the scarcity of fuel and the unavailability of the new naira notes as a result of the Central Bank (CBN) directives on withdrawal limit and deposit of old naira notes time frame, Comrade Mulade Toluwa, President, Riverine Peace Initiative in Niger Delta (RINPD) has called on the Federal government to direct the commercial banks and the NNPC to make special arrangements that would reduce the suffering of the riverrine people who are worst hit due to their terrain.
Mulade who made the call in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin noted that while the present situation has increased the frustration and suffering of Nigerians within these few weeks, the Riverine People of the Niger Delta Region are worst hit as they are facing the most excruciating moment of their lives.
According to him, this unabated hardship in the last few days in the country with no hope of getting better soon has every segment of the society.
“The commercial drivers and private car owners are groaning each day over their inability to get access to fuel while the general public are groaning over cash crunch and these are people living in upland, one could imagine how it will affect the riverine people who have no access to petrol stations and commercial banks.
“We in the Riverine Peace Initiative in Niger Delta have passionately called for urgent intervention of the Federal Government by making special arrangement for the riverine people of the Niger Delta Region so as to ensure that Independent Marketers and money changers do not take advantage of the scarcity to exploit them the more and inflict them with more pains”
While decrying the level of extortions which he said, have thrived these period leaving the ordinary Nigerians at the Mercy of those hoarding the PMS product, Mulade said the situation has come to a point that independent marketers , despite having Fuel in their various filling stations kept hoarding and creating artificial scarcity with the aim of increasing the price on a daily basis.
“How long are we going to be enemy of ourselves? Imagine different filling stations selling PMS increasing the cost on a daily basis.
“My sympathy goes to our people living in the riverine areas who are seriously affected by this hardship and to add injury to these lingering pain, the CBN’s withdrawal limit has made life more unbearable for them. We can’t continue to be silent in the face of this Man Inhumanity to Man.
“Election is just by the corner and people are suffering like this, I called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene and ensure nobody is taking advantage of anyone.” he said. Mulade added that the only way out of this present predicament is to direct the banks to make special arrangements for the riverine people in particular and the country in general for the new naira notes to be made available for customers while the independent Marketers should be checkmated to stop the artificial scarcity of fuel.
