Northerners Set To Massively Protest As Hunger Ravages Region

The Arewa Citizens Watch for Good Governance (ACWGG) has threatened to embark on a massive protest over what it referred to as widespread hunger.

This is as it vowed to begin mobilisation of its supporters from Thursday, August 3 to press home its demand for the removal of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Mele Kyari and heads of the company subsidiaries for the role they played in subjecting Nigerians to untold hardship over abysmal increase in the price of petroleum motor spirit (PMS).

Addressing newsmen at Arewa House, Kaduna, the publicity secretary, Aminu Muhammad Abbas, said the group believed strongly that the “endemic and systemic corruption that the NNPC is known for encouraged the racketeering in the defunct subsidy administration, which ended up lining the pockets of major marketers with petro-dollars and further reduced resources available for the usage of the common.

“As you may be aware, there was artificial fuel scarcity in the significant part of 2022 and early 2023 which led to a build-up of queues in our fuel stations. Miraculously, the queues disappeared immediately after the 2023 general elections.

“Most Nigerians believe that the forces behind the scarcity and unwarranted increase in the price of the PMS were working against the interest of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which ended boomeranging.

“The dark forces took the fight to another dimension by persuading the then president-elect to announce the removal of the subsidy without carrying out a proper situation analysis. This, we believe was done to punish poor Nigerians who willingly voted for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 

“We are afraid that should the Tribunal and Supreme Court Justices order a rerun election today, we doubt if the president can survive it. 

“With the perceived termination of the subsidy regime, the NNPC is planning to reaward pipeline surveillance contract to the Tompolo-owned Tantita Security Company. This is a deliberate way of passing a vote of no confidence in our armed forces, who are working tirelessly to ensure that we can sleep with our two eyes closed.” 

“Beyond the cosmetics of the recent findings of tapping point in oil pipeline by the leadership of Tantita, which coincided with the expiration of his earlier contract, we believe that strong forces in the Company stand to benefit from it.

“It is on the strength of the above background that we wish to call on our Members to converge at the NNPC Headquarters, Abuja on Thursday, to commence mass civil action that will force the NNPCL supreme ruler to either step aside or be sacked by Mr President.  

“We understand that things are very tough for our compatriot. They either come out to protest their way to freedom or stay home to acquire Stomach Ulcer which might lead to their ultimate end. We wish to call on our Security Agencies to mobilize their men to give us the necessary protection as we exercise our inalienable right to protest,” he added.