President Bola Ahmed Tinubu shortly after returning from two weeks private visit to France, has directed the Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention to work out measures to address the current rising high cost of living in Nigeria just as group of Nigerians in Minna, the Niger State Capital and Kano State blocked major roads on Monday and resisted men of the Nigeria Police Force who tried to stop them from continuing the protest.

The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC accused the major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP among other parties of being responsible for the protest to discredit the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The PDP reacted and also accused the APC of politicalizing the economic hardships Nigerians are faced with under the current administration.

The protest rocked Minna, the capital city of Niger State on Monday’s morning as youths and women took to the streets over the rising cost of foodstuffs and biting hardship in Nigeria, with many of them seen in videos matching through streets and blocked roads.

The protesters also blocked Minna-Bida road at the popular Kpakungu Roundabout to lament the hardship.

Most of the protesters spoke in Hausa language and said the economic situation in the country was getting worse.

The protesters demanded the reversal of the current fuel price which they said to be responsible for the daily rise in the prices of foodstuffs and other essential livelihood.

The protesters also claimed that government’s response to the growing hardship was poor and may continued to be blocking roads in protest to get the attention of the authorities to address the difficulties.

Police operatives who were deployed to the scene had difficulties calming the protesting youths.

They were compelled to fire teargas in the direction of the rampaging youths to disperse them but with no avail.

Niger State Police Command spokesperson, Wasiu Abiodun said that the police had to apply minimum force to disperse the protesters.

“I woke up this morning with information that many people protesting, blocked Bida road, obstructing motorists and causing people to be unable to go about their work. So we had to deploy there this morning.

After so much persuasion, they refused to open the road, even the deputy Governor, His Excellency, was there to address them; we had to use minimum force to disperse the protesters, the road was opened, and there is a free flow of traffic now.”

The Deputy Governor of Niger State, Yakubu Garba appealed for calm while assuring that the government was aware of the economic hardship faced by its citizens and that modalities were being put in place to ease their suffering.

“Niger State Government as a matter of urgency is calling on the people of Kpagungu to remain calm as the state government is working tirelessly to cushion its citizen hardships to its barest minimum.

We will continue to distribute palliative to the downtrodden, the Deputy Governor said.

Sahara Reporters reported few hours ago that; “President Bola Tinubu who returned from his two-week medical trip in France on Tuesday has directed the Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention to work out immediate measures to check rising food prices in the country.

Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, disclosed this after a committee meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.

The minister said the president was concerned about the accessibility and affordability of food items nationwide.

The minister said the president was concerned about the accessibility and affordability of food items nationwide.

“The government is very concerned about what Nigerians are going through, especially what happened in Minna yesterday. Therefore, the government is taking some actions to ensure that Nigerians have some relief in terms of the availability of food on the table,” said Idris.

Idris said the committee meeting would continue until Thursday, adding that certain significant measures are already being considered to ease the deplorable situation.

“Now, some of these will involve unlocking the foods available in most of the storage facilities (National Food Reserves) around the country. The government is also talking to major millers and major commodity traders to also see what is available in their stores.

“To open it up so that government will provide some intervention, discuss with them to provide some intervention to make this food available to Nigerians,” the minister said.

He said the government was aware that some persons were creating food shortages because of its high cost and currency depreciation.

“What I will tell Nigerians is that the president has directed that government needs to step in to stem this tide. The government will not fold its arms and see the way Nigerians are suffering in terms of the availability of these food items, so I want to plead with you to understand the government.

“By the time these meetings are concluded, we’ll be able to issue a definite statement on the position of government in this regard,” the minister said.

The meeting was attended by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Central Bank governor, Yemi Cardoso, Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.

Others are; Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, Budget and Economic Planning, Bagudu Atiku, and Ministers of State for Agriculture, Sabi Abdullahi, and FCT, Mariya Mahmoud”, Sahara Reporters news reads in quotes.

The Punch Newspaper also reported that; “The ruling All Progressives Congress on Tuesday accused the leading opposition parties in the country of orchestrating the demonstrations that took place simultaneously in Kano and Niger states on Monday.

But the Peoples Democratic Party denied the allegation, saying the protests were merely a reflection of the hardship in the land occasioned by the economic policies of the ruling party.

The allegation comes barely 24 hours after angry youths and women took to the streets of Minna and Kano to protest the biting hardship, inflation and rising cost of living in the country.

In Niger, a group of women reportedly blocked the ever-busy Minna-Bida Road at the popular Kpakungu Roundabout and called on the administration of President Bola Tinubu government to address the problem of ‘hunger in the land.’

Attempt by security operatives to quell the protest by firing teargas cannisters into the crowd and make some arrests were rebuffed by the mob.

In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, in Abuja on Tuesday, the ruling party fingered the opposition parties as being the brain behind the demonstrations, which it claimed were not mere coincidence.

Morka added that it was a desperate move to portray the APC-led administration as under-performing.

The statement read, “The protests in Minna and Kano on Monday were the manifestation of this devious and unpatriotic plot. That the protests happened simultaneously in both cities is not coincidental. It bears a bold stamp of an orchestrated and coordinated effort to instigate unrest and undermine the government. This mercenary opposition tactic is a clear and present threat to public peace and national security.

“While we recognize the right of citizens to engage in peaceful protest, we urge our good people to be vigilant and not lend themselves to the treacherous attempt by the opposition to promote social strife by its incendiary rhetoric and manipulative plots.

“The President Bola Tinubu-led administration is solidly committed to doing everything in its power to mitigate the transient pains of critically important reforms that are crucial to economic recovery and sustainable prosperity for all Nigerians. It behoves us as good citizens of our beloved country to stand fast with our government in this noble stride. In due time, these policy reforms will yield enduring beneficial transformation of the material conditions of life in the country.

“We implore Nigerians to shun the guile and unpatriotic attempt by opposition elements to destabilize the country for their own base and parochial political gains.”

Reacting, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ibrahim Abdullahi, mocked the ruling party, stating that governance was a responsibility an individual or organisation owes the followers that comes with consequences.

This was even as Abdullahi expressed concern that the nation was under a siege following the rising cost of living, insecurity and free fall of the naira.

He said, “If the PDP were to be in power, there is a tendency it might likely accuse the APC of masterminding these protests. It is a normal thing in democracy. But what is the crux of the matter here? If the issue at hand is a true reflection of the situation in the land, I don’t think it behoove the APC to start complaining about people behind it. What is more critical is that the country is under siege and facing a very terrible situation as we speak. You and I go to the same market and we are all witnesses to the massive degeneration of our economy as well as the tragic fall of our beloved country from the high point of glory.

“From 2015, we could barely wait for the tenure of Muhammed Buhari to end till after eight years. Just when Nigerians thought they have seen worse, little did they know the worst is on its way. Today, you could see the rooftop inflation, biting economic reality, sabotage, rising unemployment and insecurity. Nigerians are the ones bearing all the brunt. And for anyone to say the people should not groan or complain leaves much to be desired.

“For the APC to ask the opposition to keep quiet at a time when they should be the ones putting the FG on its toes, I don’t know if they expect the PDP and other political parties to accept what is going as the phase of life. Then where is the opposition? Insecurity has never been as worse as it is today”, the Punch Newspaper report ends in quotes.