ENUGU – Economic and social activities are grinding to a halt in the South East as the current nationwide energy crisis takes its toll on the residents, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
With the pump price of petrol going beyond N200 per litre at filling stations, travel has become unaffordable for the people, particularly the traders in the area.
Intra-city shuttles have also become difficult for the people, especially the workers as bus and taxi fares have doubled in most instances.
In Enugu, the price per litre of petrol hit N200 on Sunday as only independent marketers sold the product while major marketers shut down their filling stations.
Coupled with the non-supply of electricity for four days in most parts of the coal city by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, it is double jeopardy for the people as they cannot also fuel their generators.
In Nsukka, Enugu State, many commuters were stranded on Monday as very few vehicles were on the roads.
A litre of petrol now sells for between N250 and N300 in the few filling stations that have stock of the product in the town.
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Transport fares have also increased by about 70 per cent for inter- and intra-city transportation.
Commuters are now made to cough out N500 for a bus ride to Enugu instead of the previous N300 while those travelling to Lagos now pay N5000 as against N3000.
Similarly within the town, from Old Park to UNN now costs N80 as against N50.
Some of the commuters told NAN that the situation would soon get out of hand if nothing was done by the government.
In Owerri, the scarcity of the product has also resulted in increased transportation fares across the state.
Investigation in Owerri on Monday showed that a litre of petrol now sells for between N140 and N200 in Owerri, Amakohia, Irete, Obinze and Emekuku, all suburbs of the Imo capital.
Some filling stations in the area sold at N140 per litre, some at N160 and yet some others at N200.
Most filling stations, especially the major oil marketers, were locked up with the inscription `no petrol, diesel and kerosene’ boldly displayed.
Chikadibia Ndubuisi, a commercial tricycle rider, told NAN that the scarcity and hike in the pump price of petrol had also pushed up the fare charged by commercial motorists.
“Before, we collected N70 from Owerri to Ekemegbuoha in Uratta, but now it is N150 while those going to Amakohia now also pay N150 as against N70 and N100, depending on the distance,’’ he said.
A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers at Okigwe Road Motor Park, who pleaded anonymity, said that transportation fare in all parts of the state had gone up since Saturday due to the scarcity of petrol.
“Since Saturday, drivers plying all the routes in Imo complained of scarcity and hike in the pump price of petrol and as a result, they hiked the fares to enable them make up,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the residents of Abakaliki have called on the Federal Government to urgently address the lingering fuel scarcity plaguing the nation.
A cross section of the residents told NAN in Abakaliki on Monday that the situation had brought untold hardship to the average citizens.
The residents decried the scarcity, saying that the situation called for immediate solution.
Mr Michael Elom, a civil servant, said the scarcity had paralysed socio-economic activities in the country.
According to him, the situation has forced many motorists to abandon their vehicles and trek to work and other businesses.
“The situation is a national embarrassment and I expect the outgoing administration to do something about it,’’ Elom said.
A commercial driver, Mr Ignatius Igbo, said he bought the petrol at N400 a litre from a hawker and had to increase the transport fare to be in business.
Igbo said that unless the government took urgent and decisive action in tackling the problem, the masses would continue to suffer.
A lawyer, Mr Clement Ebenyi, described the lingering scarcity as `a monumental national disaster’.
He urged the Federal Government to revive the comatose oil refineries as well as diversify the economy as measures to solve the problem.
A NAN correspondent who monitored the situation in Ebonyi reports that most filling stations in the state capital were not dispensing the product due to non-availability while the few that had the product sold at between N200 and N230 per litre. (NAN)
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