Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were on Tuesday left stranded at the various bus stops as fuel scarcity worsened in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja. null The situation which has grown from bad to worse has forced motorists to increase transport fares in Abuja and its environs.
Transport fares have now gone up by 100% or more, thereby making mobility difficult for the residents to and from work. A large number of workers who could not afford the transport fares were sighted at the Federal Secretariat, the hub of civil service, standing for hours following the shortage of commercial vehicles.
Checks within the city centre showed that only a few filling stations were selling the product, but with long queues, while many shut their gates. Meanwhile, black marketers have capitalised on the shortage of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to make brisk business by selling 10 litres for N8,000, an increase of about 500 per cent.
The situation has led to traffic gridlock within the city as major roads were blocked as a result of endless queues at fuel stations. However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and some oil companies have continued to trade blames over who is responsible for the importation of adulterated fuel instead of solving the problem.
Credit: SaharaReporters