By Folorunso Ojo, Akure with agency report
Workers and commuters were stranded at many bus stops across the country on Monday as the current fuel scarcity hits harder. On Monday, checks by our correspondents across the country indicate fewer buses on the roads and some hiking fares.
Queues dotted petrol stations in major cities across Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Sokoto, Kano, Benue, Sokoto, and other places on Monday as motorists battled to fuel their vehicles amidst scarcity of the product.
Many outlets owned by independent oil marketers remained shut while those who were opened sold between N700 and N1, 200 per litre for motorist who were lucky after hours of sweat and contest.
In Lagos, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) observed some students and their parents trekking early in the day after being unable to get buses on time.
A businessman, Mr Kingsley Udeh, told NAN that he had to resort to trekking a long distance to get to his shop.
“It is really frustrating this morning. As I got to my bus stop, I was surprised at the number of people I saw.
“It was also obvious that there were no buses because of the number of people I saw waiting.
“I waited for some time but resorted to trekking when I saw others moving forward. This fuel situation should be addressed, as the hardship is much,” he said.
A trader, Mrs Shade Agboola, said that leaving her house in the morning to take her children to school and make her way to Lagos Island was hectic.
“When I got to Gate this morning, the crowd I saw was alarming. After taking my children to school, I had to trek to Pako to board a bus going to Cele.
“The usual N200 fare we boarded from Pako to Cele now turned to N300.
“Also, I paid an additional N100 to the N200 I normally pay to go to Aguda en route Lagos Island.
“Government should really help with this fuel situation,” she said
Mrs Maureen Uzochukwu, on her part, urged the government to address the fuel situation in the country to reduce the pains and suffering of citizens.
According to Uzochukwu, people are paying too much in the country.
“There is food inflation, everything is high and people are becoming sick due to the situation in the country,” she said.
Mr Francis Obiechina, a resident, told NAN that he paid N800 to transport himself from Oshodi to Costain just to get to work.
“Ordinarily, I used to pay N600, now I paid an additional N200. This means no lunch for me because I have spent more than my budget for today.
“Not only about the money paid, had I also had to trek within my axis in Oshodi to cut costs, this is not healthy for us at all,” he said.
The fuel queues have persisted despite the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) assurance that the logistics problem that caused the problem had been resolved.
Residents of Ondo state who spoke to Nigerian Pilot also expressed anger as the scarcity of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), over their inability to get petrol
In Akure, commuters and stranded residents are groaning as the cost of transportation has gone up by fifty percent.
At the weekend, the majority of the petrol stations within the state capital did not dispense the product, while long queues were noticed at a few stations that dispensed the product.
Investigation revealed that the price of the product ranges from N720 at the major marketers stations, and N850 at the independent marketers.
In Ore, the headquarters of Odigbo Local Government area of Ondo state, it was revealed that some filling stations within the metropolis that petrol price ranges between N750 to N800 per litre, with long queues.
A motorcyclist identified as Ola Balogun said “honestly, I am short of words about this issue of fuel scarcity, I have been on this long queue for hours and upon that, I still can’t get the fuel.
“I don’t know why filing stations are hoarding fuel, as it is now in Ore; most filling stations prefer to sell fuel at dawn because of reasons best known to them
“I just hope this issue of fuel scarcity won’t last longer or else things will get worse, as it will affect us motorcyclists, entrepreneurs and the likes.”
According to a commercial driver in Akure, Gbenga Ojo said most filling stations were locked under the guise that there is no fuel, while black marketers are selling a litre of petrol between N800 and N1, 200 to motorists who cannot wait in long queues.
