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Nigerian president announces a cut in petrol prices

16 January 2012 11:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan announced a cut in petrol prices to 97 naira ($0.60) a litre on Monday, a gesture that prompted unions to suspend mass protests to allow further negotiations with the government, Reuters reported.

But the main labour unions said strikes that paralysed Africa’s second-largest economy last week would resume pending further talks, and residents of Nigeria’s largest city Lagos reported soldiers in the streets in an apparent security move.

"They are searching vehicles. It looks like they want to maintain law and order," one resident said.

Oil output by Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude exporter, has not been affected so far by the labour unrest, which began after a fuel subsidy was lifted on Jan. 1, more than doubling the pump price of petrol to 150 naira per litre from 65 naira.

Jonathan met union leaders late on Sunday in search of a compromise to end the strikes but he said later the talks had "yielded no tangible result" and he would pursue a policy of removing subsidies seen as breeding waste and corruption.