Ogun Fish Sellers Storm Street, Protest Hikes In Prices

Fish sellers in Ogun, under the aegis of the Fish and Sea Food Seller Association of Nigeria, have appealed to the state government to save their businesses from collapse following incessant increases in the price of the commodity by cold room operators.

The fish sellers who took their protest over the sudden rise in price to the Ogun governor’s office in Abeokuta, the state capital on Tuesday lamented the over 100 per cent hike in the prices of fish by operators of cold rooms in the state.

This is coming barely a week after fish sellers in the Sagamu area of the state stormed the palace of the Akarigbo and paramount ruler of Remoland, Oba Babatunde Ajayi, to also register their displeasure over the increasing prices of fish.

The fish sellers in the numbers were armed with placards with various inscriptions lamenting their plights during their protest to the office of Governor Dapo Abiodun.

However, police and other security personnel prevented the fish sellers from gaining access to the premises of the governor’s office.

Angered by this, the fish sellers chanted anti-government songs to express their frustration over the development.

Speaking to journalists, the state chairman of the association, Owolabi Onajobi lamented that the ceaseless hike in the prices of fish has forced many of his members out of business.

According to Onajobi, the skyrocketing prices of fish have adversely affected their business as customers blame them for the arbitrary increase.

He called on the government to immediately take action to alleviate the economic hardship caused by the increasing prices of commodities.

“Many of us are shutting down our businesses because we cannot continue to run at a loss. For instance, a carton of Titus we were buying for N45,000 before is now N87,000. We cannot continue like that, this is why we have come to the governor to tell him our plight.

“The government should please look into this and save our business from imminent collapse. We are operating under huge debt, this hardship is too much”, Onajobi said.

Addressing the protesters, the commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Adijat Adeleye-Oladapo appealed to the traders to be more patient with the government, saying the hike in prices of fish is not peculiar to Ogun state.

Adeleye said, “To my understanding, I think this is not just happening in Ogun state, fish sellers from other states are also complaining about the price increase.

“The issue of fish is not just about Ogun state, it is something that cut across the nation, there has to be a holistic approach to the problem.”