Some troublemakers caused a problem during a protest by fish sellers along Kaduna road in Suleja, Niger state.Â
They stole food from trucks stuck in traffic. Sadiq Bala, a Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) candidate for the Suleja constituency, confirmed this.
He said the fish sellers were protesting because fish prices were going up fast. The protest started around 10 am on Thursday.
Bala explained that the price of a carton of fish went from N34,000 to N48,000 overnight, which made people angry.
The protest was supposed to be peaceful, but some young people turned it into a demonstration about their hardships.
Bala said that some people passing by joined the protest and blocked the Abuja-Kaduna road to get attention.
They even tried to steal pineapples from a red Volkswagen truck but the driver managed to escape.
Then, they targeted trucks from companies like Dangote and BUA that were carrying food items.
They overwhelmed the drivers and started stealing rice bags. Some of them even celebrated their actions.
Security forces like soldiers and police were there. They used teargas to disperse the protesters and clear the road for traffic. Wasiu Abiodun, a police spokesperson in Niger, confirmed the incident.
He said the protest wasn’t communicated to the police beforehand and was hijacked by troublemakers.
This incident adds to a series of protests in Niger state and other parts of the country due to the high cost of living.
Food prices have been going up since the government removed petrol subsidy in May 2023.
