Nigeria fuel strike brings country to a halt

BBC

9 January 2012

Nigeria fuel strike brings country to a halt

A general strike in Nigeria over the elimination of a fuel subsidy has brought the country to a standstill.

Shops, offices, schools and petrol stations around the country closed on the first day of an indefinite strike.

Thousands gathered in Lagos and other cities to protest at the loss of the subsidy which has doubled fuel costs.

A demonstrator has been shot dead in Lagos, while 20 people were injured as police used tear gas and fired in the air in the northern city of Kano.

President Goodluck Jonathan has said the subsidy was economically unsustainable.

He cannot afford state resources being stretched for too long while the attacks in the north continue.

In Lagos police clashed with demonstrators, as thousands joined a march against the rising fuel prices.

Some protesters waved placards bearing an effigy of President Jonathan with devil horns and fanged teeth, and showing him pumping fuel at a gas station.

"Our leaders are not concerned about Nigerians. They are concerned about themselves," protester Joseph Adekolu told the Associated Press news agency.