On Sunday, drivers traveling from Lokoja to Okene expressed displeasure as fuel prices reached at least N230 per litre in Kogi State’s Okene and Lokoja local government areas.
According to a DAILY POST correspondent who visited some filling stations in Okene on Sunday, the current fuel scarcity in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, has spread to Okene, with major filling stations unable to dispense fuel to motorists.
Fuel was sold at a minimum of N230 per litre in a few filling stations, with some drivers reporting that the price could be as high as N270 in other filling stations in the area.
A Lokoja-Okene bound commercial driver, Issa Mohammed, commented on the development, describing fuel scarcity in Okene as worse than in Lokoja, where the product is sold between N220 and N225 per litre.
“The current hike in the price of fuel, especially in Lokoja and Okene, is fast going beyond the purchasing capacity of an average commercial driver to cope with.
“Hardly can any commercial driver in Lokoja and Okene can boast of making a tangible profit at the end of the day’s business as all our proceeds go for the purchase of fuel which continues to hit the roof,”
“Many of us are still in job because we have no other profession to fall back to, not that there is much profitability in the job again.
“We will be happy if the government can help us check black marketers in the fuel business so we can at least make some profit or break even in this business.
“The terrible hike in motor spare parts, accelerated wear and tear of our vehicles, and bad road are also issues giving us sleepless nights as much of our proceeds go for the purchase of spare parts and repairs of our vehicles.
Mohamed’s coworkers, who agreed with him on the issue, urged the federal government to supply more fuel to filling stations as a natural way of forcing the price of fuel down to the official level.
Our correspondent reports that the transport fare, which was N500 or N600 from Lokoja to Okene (70kms) a few months ago, has risen to N1,500 and, in some cases, N1,800.
Commercial and tricycle operators in Lokoja and Okene have also increased their services by 50 to 80 percent, citing the skyrocketing cost of fuel.
In separate interviews some passengers who also complained about the increase in transportation fares urged NNPC limited to focus its attention on shylock dealers selling fuel above the official pump price of N179 per litre in the area.