By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A strike by independent oil marketers in Imo has forced up fuel pump price from between N162 and N165 to N200 per litre, piling economic hardship on the palaver in the South East where separatist agitation hampers lives and police kill youths.
The strike on Wednesday is sequel to a court judgment obtained by one of the marketers whose filling station was closed during the tenure of former Governor Rochas Okorocha.
Sources close to the marketers told The Nation in Owerri that since government is a continuum Governor Hope Uzodimma’s administration should respect the ruling.
The current administration has appealed the judgment against the wishes of the marketers, who then suspended distribution of petroleum products to filling stations on Tuesday. Their trucks are parked on the Owerri-Onitsha road.
The strike also caused increase in gas prices.
Most filling stations on Aba-Owerri road were shut and some that opened sold at N200 per litre. Commercial drivers capitalised on it and raised fares 100 per cent.
Passengers travelling from Owerri to other towns and villages paid between N200 and N300.
Government says strike prejudicial to court case
Information and Strategy Commissioner Declan Emelumba said the government was aware that the petroleum marketers would embark on strike from August 24.
“Their grouse is alleged refusal by the state government to obey a court judgment on payment of compensation to their member, whose filling station at Orlu was demolished by the Okorocha administration,” Emelumba explained in a statement.
“The government believes that there is more to the planned strike than meets the eye.
“First, the judgment was hidden from the current administration and no effort was made to dialogue with the government by the aggrieved member.
“Despite this, when the government found out about the judgment, it responded as a law-abiding government by proceeding on appeal.
“Secondly and curiously, the petroleum marketers have made efforts to hoodwink tanker drivers to stop the supply of petroleum products to the state by midnight of August 23, obviously using the influence of the affected member, who was a tanker driver.
“Why should the marketers succumb to involving Petroleum and Natural Gas Association of Nigeria (PENGASAN), in a local affair that has nothing to do with that association?
“This suggests that there are other motives behind the planned strike. The petroleum marketers must, therefore, be mindful of being dragged into a strike they do not know its full motive.
“Having submitted himself to the rule of law, the affected person ought to wait for the ruling of the higher court before proceeding on any further action.
“It, therefore, goes without saying that the planned strike by petroleum marketers in Imo State is prejudicial to the extant case and therefore subjudice.
“The government is not unmindful of the consequential effects of such an illegal action on the state economy and on innocent residents.
“While the government has the responsibility to ensure the maintenance of law and order, it regrets to note that the planned strike in this volatile security situation in the country is ill-advised, more so when it is glaring that it is an affront to the law.
“However, as a law-abiding government, this administration assures the petroleum marketers that it will abide by any decision of the highest court when the matter is fully determined.
“Since the affected owner of the demolished filling station is yet to exhaust legal options available and since there exists a pendency of appeal on the matter, any strike in whatever form and by whosoever name remains illegal and will be treated as such.
“The government hereby advises those planning the strike to respect the law in the interest of peace and economic well-being of the people