Fuel scarcity: Residents groan over hike in transportation fares in Osun

Fuel scarcity
April 30, 2024

Residents in Osun are now finding it difficult to cope with the rising cost of transportation due to the increase in fuel prices across filling stations in the state .

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some residents now trek long distances to their various destinations, with few commercial vehicles charging exorbitant fares from passengers as seen on Tuesday in Osogbo.

Also, most roads in the state capital are empty with few motorists that can afford the high petrol price of between N800 and N1,000 per litre.

Mini buses in Osogbo now collect between N200 and N400 for drops along major routes, which had further worsened the living conditions of residents in the state capital.

NAN further reports that the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Osun Council, had called on government to address the worsening fuel scarcity in the state.

A statement by the Chairman and Secretary of the council, Mr Wasiu Ajadosu and Mr Adeyemi Aboderin, respectively, said that the situation had crippled business activities in the state, as many vehicles and motorcycles had disappeared from the roads, while workers faced serious challenges trekking to their places of work.

The Union called on Osun Task Force on Petroleum products to move round all filling stations to check allegations of hoarding.

The Osun government Taskforce on Petroleum Price Monitoring, in its response, warned owners of petrol stations across the state against hoarding the product to create artificial scarcity.

Mr. Kazeem Akinleye, the Chairman of the Taskforce and Chief of Staff to the State Governor, said that its surveillance across the state revealed that most filling stations were hoarding petrol products, thereby worsening the fuel supply situation in the state.

Akinleye said that surveillance activities were conducted in major towns and the state capital, which revealed that, there was deliberate hoarding of fuel to create artificial scarcity.

He warned affected filling stations which were listed as direct culprits to immediately dispense fuel to members of the public.

Read Also: Fuel scarcity bites harder in FCT as fuel stations increase pump price

The chairman urged marketers to be public spirited in their pricing of Petroleum products, reminding them of the already harsh economic situation facing members of the public.

Speaking, a civil servant on his way to Abere where he works, Mr Ayo Adebare, said he was not expecting the sudden increase in transportation fare that had crippled most business activities making lives difficult.

Adebare said that his children could not join their fellow students in school due to the fare hike.

He appealed to the necessary authorities to address the situation before things get out of hand.

Mrs Adenike Adigun, a trader at Alekuwodo area in Osogbo, called on governments across all levels to do the needful by either increasing workers’ salaries to complement the current economic hardship or put measures in place to lessen the hardship.

(NAN)

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