President Goodluck Jonathan slashes price of petrol by 30 percent in response to protests

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday announced a 30% cut in petrol prices as soldiers moved to disperse activists in a bid to end more than a week of nationwide strikes called by unions to protest against the end of fuel subsidies.

Nigerian soldiers seized protest sites and used armoured vehicles to disperse demonstrators after the president watered down a hike in petrol prices Monday in a bid to end an eight-day nationwide strike.

About 1,000 protesters in the economic capital Lagos had gathered on a road near the main protest site, which armed soldiers seized early on Monday. None of the protesters appeared to have been wounded.

Some 10,000 protesters had been gathering daily at the main site last week.

Troops began by driving trucks toward the protesters, but later used armoured vehicles, an AFP correspondent reported. Around 200 demonstrators were seeking to regroup nearby, but soldiers were moving in their direction.

Soldiers also Monday seized the main protest site in the capital Abuja where hundreds of people had been gathering daily, an AFP journalist reported.

President Goodluck Jonathan announced Monday that petrol prices would be cut by about a third in a bid to end the strike triggered after the government removed fuel subsidies. 

Unions vowed to press ahead with the strike which is now in its second week but called off street protests in response to security concerns voiced by Jonathan. However demonstrations have been organised by a range of civil society and political groups.

A number of groups vowed to continue protests.

Jonathan announced the price cut in a televised national address after a week that saw him remain largely silent in public as the strike and mass protests shut down Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer.

The president's announcement came after talks with unions had failed to resolve the dispute, with labour leaders demanding a return to pre-January 1 petrol prices.

He charged that the protests had been "hijacked" by those seeking to promote "discord, anarchy and insecurity".

"Government will continue to pursue full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector," Jonathan said in his address.

"However, given the hardships being suffered by Nigerians, and after due consideration and consultations with state governors and the leadership of the National Assembly, government has approved the reduction of the pump price of petrol to 97 naira (about 60 US cents) per litre."

He added: "I urge our labour leaders to call off their strike and go back to work."

The government had ended fuel subsidies on January 1, causing petrol prices to more than double from 65 naira per litre to 140 naira or more, sparking the strike and protests that began on January 9.

Most in the country of some 160 million people live on less than two dollars a day, and Nigerians weary after years of blatant corruption view the subsidies as their only benefit from the nation's oil wealth.

Besides seizing main protest sites, soldiers on Monday also set up roadblocks at key points in the economic capital Lagos for the first time since the protests began, stopping cars and searching them.

One senior police officer at the main Lagos protest site made no pretense of the aim of the deployment.

"It is total surrender to the might of the federal government," he said. "They cannot come here again today in view of this situation."

One protest organiser said musical instruments were destroyed at the site, where Seun Kuti, son of late legendary musician and harsh government critic Fela Kuti, had been playing regularly.

"Soldiers have destroyed our instruments in Ojota and brought down our stage," said rights activist Jo Okei-Odumakin. 

She added: "I have been receiving strange calls threatening me with death. They send these texts to me with unknown numbers."

Jonathan had late Sunday sought a deal with labour leaders aimed at ending the strike. Unions did not call off the strike after the talks, but said they were cancelling street protests after Jonathan expressed security concerns.

Nigeria Labour Congress chief Abdulwahed Omar said: "We came to a conclusion that we will stay at home, that is stay off the streets, in order to make sure that we don't in the first instance endanger innocent lives because of the security situation in the country."

Nigeria has faced spiralling violence, most of it in the country's north and blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram, prompting warnings of a wider religious conflict and even the possibility of civil war.

But the main fuel protests have been largely peaceful, although at least 15 people are believed to have been killed in various incidents.

While the strike was suspended for the weekend, labour leaders had warned it would resume Monday if a deal had not been reached. An earlier threat to shut down oil production however has been put on hold.

Government officials and economists have said removing subsidies would allow much of the $8 billion a year in savings to be ploughed into projects to improve the country's woefully inadequate infrastructure.

AFP

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National strike called off by Nigerian unions

Union leaders in Nigeria have called off a week-long nationwide strike that has been paralysing the country's economy, following a decision by Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, to roll back fuel-price increases.

Jonathan announced on Monday that he would reduce fuel prices, while soldiers moved to shut down demonstrations in the country's major cities. 

His government will reduce the prices by 30 per cent, to around $2.75 per gallon, by restoring some subsidies that it removed at the beginning of January. Prices will still be considerably higher than they were before the subsidies were removed. 

The removal of subsidies sparked street protests and, as of last week, the national strike. Unions announced early on Monday morning that they would halt protests after being warned by Jonathan that "people outside organised labour may try to hijack" the demonstrations, Abdulwahed Omar, the head of Nigeria Labour Congress, said.

Earlier security forces opend fire into the air and used tear gas to disperse protesters in the country's commercial capital, Lagos, and other parts of the country.

An AFP news agency correspondent said soldiers first shot into the air to disperse the protesters before police fired tear gas, forcing them to flee. No injuries were reported.

'Protests hijacked'

In an address on national television, Jonathan said provocateurs had hijacked the protests and demonstrations, which had seen tens of thousands march in cities across the nation.

"It has become clear to government and all well-meaning Nigerians that other interests beyond the implementation of the deregulation policy have hijacked the protest,'' he said.

"This has prevented an objective assessment and consideration of all the contending issues for which dialogue was initiatefd by government. These same interests seek to promote discord, anarchy, and insecurity to the detriment of public peace.''

The nationwide strike and protests since January 9 have brought much of Africa's most populous country to a standstill.

While the strike was suspended for the weekend, labour leaders warned it would resume on Monday if a deal had not been reached. An earlier threat to shut down oil production however has been put on hold.

Roots of crisis

Unions launched the strike after the government deregulated the downstream petroleum sector and ended fuel subsidies on January 1, which more than doubled petrol prices overnight, angering many who saw the subsidies as one of the few public benefits of the country's oil wealth.

The costs of food and transportation also largely doubled in a nation where most people live on less than $2 a day.

At least 10 people have died as a result of the violence, while Red Cross volunteers have treated more than 600 people injured, officials said.

Jonathan and other government officials had argued that removing the subsidies, which were estimated to cost $8bn a year, would allow the government to spend money on badly needed public projects across a country that has pot-holed roads, little electricity and a lack of clean drinking water in many areas.

However, many remain suspicious of government as military rulers and politicians have plundered government budgets since independence from Britain in 1960.

Aljazeera

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President Goodluck Jonathan's address to the Nation on fuel subsidy removal 

 

Video - Christians and Muslims unite to protest fuel subsidy removal

 

The leader of Nigeria's Islamist group Boko Haram has defended recent attacks on Christians, and warned of more to come.

In a video posted on Youtube, he warned that Nigeria's security forces would not be able to defeat the group.

The rise in religious tensions is another headache for President Goodluck Jonathan who's facing a fourth day of nationwide strikes over the rising cost of fuel.

Aljazeera

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President Goodluck Jonathan's address to the Nation on fuel subsidy removal 

United Nations says Boko Haram must not divide Nigeria

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Navi Pillay, has urged Nigerians not to allow the violent activities of Boko Haram to precipitate retaliatory attacks that will divide the country.

Pillay said this yesterday in Geneva, Zurich in a briefing while reacting to the violence across Nigeria, following the increasing attacks by Boko Haram sect.

She said, "The religious tolerance that has been a central tenet of Nigeria's federation is being threatened, and I urge all Nigeria's leaders to avoid falling into the trap of calling for, or sanctioning, retaliation or making other provocative statements. Everybody will be the loser if Boko Haram succeeds in its aim and efforts to sow discord between Muslims and Christians, or pit Northerners against Southerners.

"The fact that people are already leaving some areas where they are in a minority, out of fear of reprisal attacks by the majority, shows just how dangerous this is becoming for the country as a whole. Anyone inciting violence or hatred must be held accountable, no matter who they are."

In its video message released on Wednesday on You Tube, Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, had claimed that the sect carried out attacks against Christians to revenge the killings of Muslims by Christians in some parts of the North.

On how to fight the group, Pillay urged the government, religious and opinion leaders to make a bold and concerted effort to halt the spread of sectarian violence as a result of Boko Haram attacks.

She said, "It is essential that the country's leadership, and especially its Muslim and Christian leaders, join forces to unequivocally condemn all violence, including retaliation, and encourage their followers to identify and help arrest all those involved in killings and other acts of violence that have been taking place."

She, however, called on security forces not to violate the fundamental human rights of people while conducting operations in areas under threat of attacks. "

On the legal implications of Boko Haram attacks, the UN High Commissioner said, "Members of Boko Haram and other groups and entities, if judged to have committed widespread or systematic attacks against a civilian population - including on grounds such as religion or ethnicity - could be found guilty of crimes against humanity.

Deliberate acts leading to population "cleansing" on grounds of religion or ethnicity would also amount to a crime against humanity." She pointed out that the International Criminal Court was established to hold individuals and groups accountable for violent activities. "There must be no impunity for any acts of violence, including those committed in retaliation for earlier attacks," Pillay added.

Leadership

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Video - Boko Haram leader declares war on Christians

Video - Boko Haram leader declares war on Christians

Leader of the militant Islamic sect, Jama'atu Ahlus Sunnah Lid Da'awati Wal Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, has broken his silence and revealed why his organisation has continued to attack government agencies and Christians in the country.

In a message posted on YouTube, Shekau said the recent attacks carried out by his sect were revenge attacks over the killing of Muslim in Jos and other northern states.

In the 15-minute video, in Hausa language, titled "Message to Jonathan 1 Shekau, wearing a red and white turban, a bullet-proof vest,with two Kalashnikov rifles, at the background, warned President Jonathan that the government forces would not be able to defeat his militant sect.

Imam Abubakar Shekau was the second-in-command to Mohammed Yusuf, who was killed by the police in July last year after days of fighting between security forces and the sect's followers.

The police said in 2009 that Shekau was shot dead in the clashes. But a 25-minute video clip, shot on April 19 and obtained by the media showed Shekau answering questions from a journalist at his hideout believed to be in Maiduguri.

Proclaiming himself as leader of the sect, Shekau said during the interview that with the death of the former leader, he "being the deputy (to Yusuf), stepped in and assumed leadership to continue in the pursuit of religious knowledge." Shekau was, besides being a second-in-command of the sect, the most influential and feared member of the Boko Haram group.

Vanguard

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