From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Protest by commercial bus drivers and Pensioners, yesterday, forced heavy vehicular traffic jam in Benin City, even hundreds of passengers were stranded while others resoted long trek.
The drivers were protesting over the increase in the daily ticket rate by the Edo Government from N800 to N2000 while the pensioners took to the streets over non upward adjustments and payment of their gratuity since 2012 by the state government.
Passengers had to resort to trek due to the protest that caught many residents of the ancient city unaware.
It was gathered that commercial vehicles with passengers onboard were being stopped and harassed by members of the transport unions in strategic areas across the city in a bid to enforce the new ticket rate.
One of the transporters, Mr. Solomon Agbovaire, explained that the state government new ticket rate which came into effect on Tuesday did not go down well with members of all the transport unions in the state.
“You will have to trek since government wants to kill us. We are asked to be paying N2000 daily for ticket as against the N800 we paid previously.
“This is unacceptable,” Agbovaire said.
In her reaction, Mrs Ifeoma Iroha, a passenger, described the ticket rate as the height of insensitivity on the part of the state government to increase the fee amidst the prevailing harsh economic situation.
She lamented how she was forced to pay the transport fare despite the fact that she was not conveyed to the agreed destination.
“I am going to Ring road, but we were stopped at Five Junctions, which is about three to four kilometers to the bus stop.
“We were all forced to disembark from the bus and they forcefully collected the fare from us.
“This is frustrating because my journey will not end at Ring road. I will still have to proceed further.
“But as it is now, I have not known how long I will have to trek,” she said.
On his part, Mr. Mark Ehanire, said increasing the ticket fee by more than 100 per cent was not the best, adding that Government should always be aware that policy like this would bring untold hardship on the masses.
“For instance, this action will definitely affect my business for today.
“I am going to Agip side on the Sapele road and this is happening to me.
“In fact I don’t know what to say than to appeal to the government to rescind this decision”.
Speaking for the pensioners, Marcus Afekafe, said “We are protesting to express our grievances against Governor Godwin Obaseki. He is treating Edo State pensioners like second fiddle in our country.
“All of us here have used our youthful years to serve the state. We are not getting younger. By tomorrow, our age today has increased by one.
“Our grievance is that many of our colleagues still receive pitances , every meager monthly pension. Some still receive N400 a month. How much is a litre of fuel now? Some N2000 a month; some N3000, some N10,000 as the case may be.
Our local government colleagues who retired since 2008 have not got their gratuities. This is supposed to be a lump sum that will be given to retirees to settle their lives for later years.
“For the state, since 2012 to date, Obaseki has not paid anybody who retired from the state civil service any gratuities.
“Third, according to Section 210 (3) of the Nigerian constitution, pension is ought to be reviewed in Nigeria every five years or be increase along increment in salaries of workers.
“The last time Oshiomole increased salary of workers from M18,000 to N25,000 as a parting gift to workers, we were not carried along.
“The recently increased N30,000 minimum wage, no pensioner has benefitted from that also”, Afekafe explained.
The pensioners are therefore seeking harmonisation of pension for all pensioners that retired on the same grade level notwithstanding the year of their retirement and immediate payment of their enticement up to date.