Business activities grounded in Makurdi as tanker drivers embark on strike 'Fuel sells for N150 per litre in Benue

Business activitieshave beenparalysed in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, following increase in the price of petrol which now sells for N150.00 per litre at the black market.This followed the strike embarked upon by tanker drivers in the state as a result of unfulfilled promise to compensate them when two of their tankers got burnt during a crisis in 2007.Consequently, the prices of goods and transport fares jumped up. For instance, a trip that used to cost N30.00 is now N60.00, while workers resorted to trekking to their offices on Monday.The leaders of the tanker drivers union, who were at the Government House on the invitation of the governor, accused the government for its lackadaisical attitude stressing that the tanker drivers decided to go on strike when all efforts to make government fulfill its promise failed.The state chairman of the union, Alhaji Musa Kwando, said members of the union refused to lift fuel from the NigerianNational Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot to prove their seriousness adding that the state union had the blessing of its national secretariat.Governor Gabriel Suswam, who invited the union leaders, promised that he would release N15million to the union as compensation, stating that the issue was inherited by his administration.The governor also called on the union to call off its strike following amicable resolution of the issue.
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