Motorists and commuters in Lagos and Ogun states have lamented bitterly on the biting consequences of the hike in fuel price and scarcity as the situation remains continuous and unchanged.
According to report the price of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly referred to as petrol, is seemingly at N200/Litre, in some states across Nigeria over the past week.
The product has been difficult to obtain as some filling station remain closed leaving the few open for sale with long queues as motorists nudge to buy the product.
The hike in fuel price has also increased transportation fair. Inlandtown gathers that in some part of Lagos transport fair has increased by over 50 percent as a result of the continued scarcity of petrol.
READ MORE: Fuel Scarcity: NLC Says They Are Not To Blame
Due to this pandemonium, commuters said there have been alleged extortion by motorists.
A young working class passenger, Ayobola told Inland town that the fuel scarcity has led to outrageous t-fair, scarcity of commercial buses and long que of passengers at parks.
She said “normally I go from Agege to Berger for N200 or N150, but on Friday I had to pay N500 for the same route, it is getting out of hand. To be on the safe side I have to make sure I have enough money, because they might give outrageous price and you would have to pay ”
Another Petrol user who doesn’t want his name on print said;
“The que is mind draining, sometimes I face the music for hours, because I have to fuel my car to go to work and do other things. I got a litre for N200 yesterday, I hope this can be addressed as soon as possible”
Also in a report by punch news, a commercial transport operator who plies the Berger/Mowe route between Lagos and Ogun states said motorists were grappling with not only a significant increase in fuel price, but also great difficulty in accessing the product.
He said, “It’s because of the price which we are buying. For more than a week, we’ve been buying fuel for N200/litre or almost N200/litre. Apart from the increase in price, we often suffer before we can buy. Many filling stations have closed for business. They refuse to sell even though we know some of them to have fuel. Every day, I spend hours before buying fuel
“Passengers think we enjoy increasing our fares, but if we don’t increase, we won’t make any profit. Even with the increase, we are still not making what we make on a normal day, especially because of the time it takes to buy fuel.”
