The daily continuous rise in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit commonly known as petrol, has thrown the residents of Owerri, the Imo State capital, into lamentation.
Residents were observed trekking to work as commercial bus drivers, especially Keke bus drivers, temporarily halted their services within the metropolis in protest over the continuous rise in the price of fuel in the country.
The development came on the heels of the further hike in fuel prices in parts of the State from N850 to between N900 and N1000 per litre as of Monday this week.
People were seen in the rush hours of Wednesday morning trekking to work in their numbers along some of the popular roads in the metropolis, as only a few commercial buses were seen plying the road.
This was the case along the busy Owerri-Okigwe and Wetheral Roads, among others.
The high price of fuel, it was learnt, compelled commercial bus drivers to further hike fares for various destinations in the city of Owerri and parts of the State.
Some residents revealed that the hardship caused by the hike in fuel pump price was affecting every sector in the State.
Chukwudi Nnorom, a bus driver, said that they were not happy about increasing the transport fares but that it became inevitable due to the increase in the price of petroleum products.
Lamented he: “It became worrisome when the fuel price started rising on a daily basis. Some filling stations are selling between N850 and N900 and some are selling at the price of N1000. Still when you go to some of the stations, they will tell you that they are not selling”.
The NNPC filling stations, it was observed at midweek, were the only ones selling at N600 per litre. As a result, there are always long vehicular queues at every NNPC station.
Said Nnorom: “Sometimes we sleep at the station to be the first person to attend to when they reopen the next day”.
Charity Nwaoha, a fruit seller at World Bank Market, said that fruit sellers were experiencing low patronage from buyers because of the changes in their prices as a result of the increase in transport fares.
Said she: “When we go to the rural markets to purchase the fruits, conveying them to town becomes a problem as drivers charge us beyond what we can afford. When you ask why, they will tell you, are you not in the country? So for us to meet up, we increase the prices of the fruits”.
Fuel pump price has risen astronomically since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the fuel subsidy removal on May 29, 2023, during his inaugural speech as president.
Many citizens have blamed the persistent rise in fuel price and high cost of goods and services in the country on the President’s hasty removal of subsidy on fuel.
