Motorcyclists in Cameroon took to the streets to protest against Nigeria’s recent fuel subsidy removal, expressing their solidarity with their Nigerian counterparts.
Eons Intelligence, a Twitter account known for sharing security updates, released a video showing the Cameroonian motorcyclists peacefully demonstrating their dissatisfaction with President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove the subsidy.
The protesters expressed their grievances in a mix of Fulfulde and French, criticizing the move. However, at the time of this report, the video’s contents could not be independently verified.
President Tinubu had declared the end of the petrol subsidy in his inaugural speech, stating that it was a thing of the past. Since then, fuel prices at depots have skyrocketed by over 100 percent.
This has resulted in downstream businesses struggling to cope with the surge in product prices. For instance, the cost of a 33,000 metric ton tanker of petrol has surged from N8 million to between N22 million and N23 million, depending on the distance from the depots to the filling stations.
Despite the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited assuring the public of sufficient fuel supply for an additional month after the subsidy removal, many filling stations in Lagos remained closed.
The announcement of the subsidy removal also triggered long queues at filling stations in various parts of Nigeria. In response, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited adjusted the pump price at its retail outlets nationwide to reflect market realities.
The protest by Cameroonian motorcyclists highlights the cross-border impact of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy removal and the concerns it has raised among neighboring countries.
