As the industrial action declared by oil marketers in Ekiti State bites harder, the Trade Union Congress(TUC), has called on the police to begin clampdown on black marketers who have taken over every corner of the State, selling a litre of fuel for as much as N300.
The TUC Chairman in Ekiti, Com. Odunayo Adesoye lamented that the black marketers have turned the state into a lawless fiefdom where hawking was being done openly, describing the situation as not only worrisome but dangerous because of the inflammability of the product.
The TUC boss appealed to the striking oil marketers to return to work to reduce the hardship, saying the crisis may end up destabilizing the economy if not resolved amicably.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti the toll the crisis was having on the workforce, Adesoye said the worrisome situation has prevented many of his colleagues in the civil service from performing their statutory duties.
Petrol marketers in the state have been on strike for three weeks over lingering crisis between members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria(IPMAN) and Governor Ayodele Fayose over threat to revoke their Certificates of Occupancy(Cs of O).
The organized labour in the state will wade into the impasse with the intention to spread olive branch to the warring factions for expeditious resolution of the logjam.
Adesoye viewed the crisis between IPMAN and the state government asdangerous to the economy of the state, saying several businesses that operate on petrol have closed up since the bedlam began.
“The situation is becoming more dangerous than ever imagined because petrol is now being stored everywhere by black marketers and this can trigger fire outbreak. The security agencies must rise to the occasion. How can someone be hawking petrol like water? This doesn’t portray a good omen.
“The government must caution them. That we are having a bad situation like this doesn’t mean we should tolerate criminality and lawlessness”, the TUC boss advised.
Adesoye charged the State Council of traditional rulers to wade into the matter before it degenerates into a full blown economic problem that will have a pernicious effects on the wellbeing of the masses.
“The way out of this logjam is for the government and oil marketers to negotiating table . They have to do this as soon as possible in overriding public interest because we have no other state to call our own.
“Businesses are shutting down, things are becoming unbearable because of fuel scarcity, so all stakeholders must rise up to settle this crisis,” Adesoye said.
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