Chiangorom Ugwu
Some residents of South-east Nigeria have lamented the high cost of petrol across states in the region.
The residents, who spoke in separate interviews with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, said the price of petrol increased on Tuesday following scarcity of the product in the region.
The cause of the scarcity is unclear, but there are indications that it might have been caused by the now suspended industrial action embarked by petrol tanker drivers in Nigeria.
The drivers resumed the industrial action on Monday following a directive from the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners.
Earlier in the week, the product sold for between N670 and N680 per litre in many filling stations in the state.
Although the NNPC filling stations sell at the rate of N600 per litre, they rarely open for business since the hike in price of the product.
The situation is the same in the university town of Nsukka, according to Zebedee Izuchukwu, a resident of the area.
“None of the NNPC stations is opened for business here in Nsukka,” he said.
Anambra
A resident of Onitsha in Anambra State, Ifeanyi Emmanuel, told PREMIUM TIMES that petrol was sold at N750 per litre on Friday in the state.
Mr Emmanuel, a truck driver, said, before now, the product sold at N670 per litre in the state.
“Tomorrow morning (today), they might sell N800 per litre,” he said.
Like in Enugu, NNPC stations in his area have not opened since the price hike, he said.
“The NNPC station in New Market Road Onitsha, for instance, stopped selling fuel at the end of January,” he said.
Abia
The situation is slightly different in Abia, another state in the South-east.
A legal practitioner in Umuahia, the state capital, Martins Ladu, told PREMIUM TIMES that filling stations in the state sell fuel at N800 per litre.
Mr Ladu said an NNPC mega station in the state capital sold the product at N595 per litre but that they have had fuel since Thursday.
Imo
A taxi driver in Owerri, Imo State capital, who identified himself simply as Joseph, said the product is sold at N700 per litre in the state.
Mr Joseph said, before the price hike, the product sold at N680 per litre in the state.
The taxi driver said although NNPC stations in his area sell the product at N600 per litre, he does not buy fuel at the stations.
“I don’t normally go there (to buy fuel) because of (huge) crowd of people there. I can’t go there and queue up,” he said.
Ebonyi
In Ebonyi, Samuel Amah-Nnachi, a resident, said the price of fuel hovered between N700 and N740 per litre in the state.
“We usually bought at N670 per litre before now,” Mr Amah-Nnachi said.
