A litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, is now sold for N1,000 at the border communities of Ogun State, Daily Trust reports.
Our correspondent reports that border towns are worst hit by the adjustment of petrol pump price by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to N617 per litre.
In Ogun State, while a litre of fuel is sold between N500 and N600 in Abeokuta and other metropolises, border towns’ residents grapple with the product at between N800 and N1,000.
Residents told Daily Trust that border towns are the worst hit because of the continuous ban suspending the supply of petroleum products within 20km radius to the country’s border with Benin Republic.
Recall that former president Muhammadu Buhari, had in 2019 banned the supply of petroleum products to Nigerians living within 20km to the country’s frontiers to curtail the diversion of subsidised fuel to neighbouring countries.
Daily Trust reported that although the Buhari government later granted some filling station waivers to sell fuel in the border areas, the number is insignificant to the population in the areas.
Many of the residents rely heavily on black-market for fuel which sells at exorbitant rates in the border areas.
Locals in Idiroko, Ijofin, Agosasa, Ipokia and Iwoye Ketu, all in Ipokia and Imeko Afon local government areas, told our correspondent that a litre of petrol is sold at between N800 and N1000.
“A litre costs N1,000. I bought some fuel to power my motorcycle this morning (Sunday),” Ahmed Ismaila, the CDA Chairman, Iwoye Ketu, a border town in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of the state, told Daily Trust.
He said many residents have now abandoned their vehicles and resorted to motorcycles to cut down costs.
He added that the cost of local transportation has increased by about 300 per cent in the area.
“First, the government must restore fuel supply to border towns. We are Nigerians, but we are being deprived of our rights because we live in border towns.
“Even when petrol was selling for about N190, we bought at N300 here. I urge the government to lift the ban which has been in place since 2019.”
Abdulganiyu Alabi, who resides in Ijofin, said “the least you can get is N900 per litre.”
He lamented that a handful of filling stations that were granted waiver at the border areas usually sell to their cronies.
While also lamenting the cost of transportation due to fuel price, Alabi said motorcyclists charge commuters N3,500 from Ijofin to Idiroko which according to him, is less than seven kilometers.
He called on the government to fix the deplorable Ijofin-Agosasa road, which he said has “high economic value to the border communities.”
