MANY commuters in Kwara State were left stranded on Thursday, September 5, as commercial transporters downed tools in protest of the fuel price hike.
The protest, which affected major roads in the state capital Ilorin, particularly, around Sango and Post Office axis, saw many residents struggling to find alternative means of transportation.
The ICIR reported that Dangote Refinery’s entrance into the market is disrupting market pricing as price adjustments are gradually being enforced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) with a benchmark price currently put at N855 per litre.
Sources confirmed to The ICIR that they’re already effecting price increments following meetings with the various petroleum regulatory bodies.
“The NNPCL is selling to us major marketers at N765 per litre which they just effected today. That means price increment and we have to put our market price and sell. Movement from various parts of the country for the supply could see the price go up above N900,” a major marketer told The ICIR after a meeting with the regulators.
The ICIR findings showed that price adjustments are being effected by other major marketers with some selling above N900 per litre in Lagos and Abuja.
Meanwhile, recent findings revealed that the transporters in Kwara State are paying up to N1200 to get a litre of fuel, with lowest going for N950.
This, the transporters said has not been easy to transfer to the customers.
The transporters, mostly tricycle riders, expressed their frustrations over the rising cost of petrol, which they said has significantly affected their operations.
According to them, the hike has made it difficult to continue providing services at the current rates without incurring losses.
Some of the roads are currently blocked, with the NAPEP riders, removing passengers from any loaded tricycle, bikes, shuttles in places like Sango, Oloje, Omoda, Post Office areas of Ilorin.
One of the residents, who spoke to The ICIR, Yusuf Monsur, noted that the incident happened early this morning, with the tricycle riders embarking on protest.
He said the riders subsequently extended their protest by refusing to allow other transporters to commute residents.
“It’s the Maruwa riders that started it this morning. But when they realised other road transport workers were working, they started blocking roads and removing passengers.
“It’s only happening in some areas of the city though. There’s calm where I am currently,” he said.
Another commuter, Abdullahi Adam, decried the situation, noting that he had prepared himself to pay an increased fare for transport, not knowing he would have to trek to his destination.
He explained that the situation was tough, as many commuters are now stranded along Sango, waiting for calm to return.
The ICIR observed several commuters stranded on the road, with many trekking to their destinations.
Speaking on the situation, a tricycle rider, who simply gave his name as Abdulmajeed said, “We can no longer make ends meet. The cost of fuel keeps going up, but our fares barely go up. Anytime we shoot up our fares, it’s always met with hostility and rejection from customers.
“Some of these people are older persons and children who will beg you with Allah’s name. So we won’t have any other options than to take them. It’ very alarming,” he said.
Another tricycle rider, Kehinde, said that for the last few days, he has been purchasing fuel for an average of N1,200, but there are no passengers to commute as he said people are struggling with even the slightest increase in fares.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M