Fuel scarcity hits A’Ibom as product sells for N600 per litre

Ini Billie, Uyo

Artificial fuel scarcity has hit Akwa Ibom State following the inaugural speech of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announcing the removal of fuel subsidies.

Findings from our correspondent in Uyo on Tuesday showed that many fuel stations were locked and those that opened sold the product at exorbitant prices.

The scarcity caused traffic congestion as cars and commercial vehicles queued up to buy fuel which was sold between N500 and N600 per litre, while independent marketers like Rain Oil sold the product for N225 per litre.

However, many cars and commercial vehicles and persons buying with gallons had to queue up for hours to be able to buy the product even though Rain Oil stopped selling for a while before they resumed.

The artificial fuel scarcity forced many vehicles off the road as there was a free flow of traffic, especially in areas notorious for traffic congestion on a normal day.

In fact, the usual busyness on the road and around banking areas, especially after a public holiday was absent as places noted for large crowds of people on the road were rarely seen.

A business owner, Mr Etorobong Akpan described the trend as ugly, noting that it was wrong for the President to announce fuel subsidy removal in his inaugural speech without putting mechanisms in place to cushion the economic effect.

“We are yet to recover from the economic suffering that the cash crunch occasioned by the redesigned naira note policy caused Nigerians, and without thinking, the new President just made an announcement that would further subject the people to more suffering.

“I think the President should have settled down for governance instead of making a policy statement that would further impoverish Nigerians and make them suffer.

“This is the perfect time for the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to call for a strike over the fuel subsidy removal as it would be difficult for workers to commute to work because of fuel scarcity,” he stated.

Another resident, Mrs Job Dickson said, “I went to the market early this morning and the place was empty. No tricycles or buses on the road. What is happening?”