Fuel sells for N200, N170 per litre in South-East

Scarcity of fuel has hit the roof in Anambra and Enugu States as transport fares have doubled for most routes in the both states. The prizes of fuel have risen from the regular N87 per litre to about N200 and N170 in most filling stations in Anambra and Enugu states, respectively.

Sunday Telegraph, as early as 7.00am yesterday, observed long queue of mostly private cars lined up along the Enugu-Onitsha Express Way, leading to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation station to fill up their tanks as NNPC remains the only station still selling fuel at the official rate of N87. Speaking on his experiences, Mr. Chukwuma Iloadi, a civil servant said he came out as early as 5:30am to be able to be in the front line of the queue.

He wondered, “I don’t really know, where this country is going to. Today, we are up, tomorrow we are at the lowest ebb. I never expected we will still have fuel issues at this time, talk more of it being this bad.

How can you buy a litre of fuel for N200 or N250 for your car and then buy for the generator at home because there is no light? It is a terrible situation and the poor massesare the ones suffering it.

Those in government don’t feel this pain we feel at all.” Apart from the long queues experienced at the NNPC station, another ordeal of motorists in the state is the shady deal by officials of NNPC mega station in Awka, which has resorted to selling fuel at night to other independent marketers who, in turn sell at exorbitant prizes in their stations.

The NNPC mega station along the Enugu–Onitsha expressway is the only mega station in the state that has been selling fuel in the past two weeks when the signs of fuel scarcity reared its ugly head. But there was also an allegation that trucks come by night with drums to collect fuel from the NNPC stations.

Most of the independent filling stations in the state have shut their doors against buyers, thus creating scarcity. The effect of the high cost of fuel is that many vehicles have been off the road, thereby eliminating the usual traffic on most major roads in the state, while those, who manage to keep their vehicles on the road charge exorbitant rates per drop.

For example, a trip to Onitsha from Awka by TRACAS, which before the scarcity was N200 is now N250, while other commercial vehicles plying the same route also charge between N250 to N300, whether or not you will get to you will get to the last bus-stop, while those going to Enugu from Awka now charge N500 against the usual N300.

The Okada riders on their part, charge minimum of N100- N200 per drop depending on the distance while some people have resorted to trekking to be able to make ends meet.

Also, those travelling from Awka to Abuja and Lagos now pay N8000, as against NN4000 paid. Meanwhile, in Enugu, Sunday Telegraph gathered that some petrol stations sell at N170 as against the official pump price of N87.

Residents are now feeling the heat as transport fare has also increased, while some motorists, especially private car owners have parked their cars, waiting for the return to normalcy.

A House member, representing Nkanu East in the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Paul Osondu Nnajiofor, lamented on the floor of the House on Thursday that the fuel scarcity was biting hard in his constituency, where people find it difficult to bring agricultural products to the urban areas and calls on government to expedite actions on that.

Enugu State chairman of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ikechukwu Nwankwo told Nigerian Pilot that even station owners are lamenting because they are being pushed out of business, saying that it is difficult for them to procure the products.