Imo residents groan as cost of living jerks up

Residents of Owerri, the Imo State capital, have been badly hit by the recent scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also called petrol and its resultant increase in the pump price of the product.

Many Imolites are lamenting how the rising price of fuel (petrol) is creating ripple effects on the cost of other essential needs, such as food, transportation, clothing, among others.

During Track News visit to some filling stations on Thursday, it gathered that the product was sold between N350 and N400 per litre as against the official pump price of N185.

The development has brought untold hardship to residents who are now appealing to the relevant authorities to address the problem.

A foodstuff seller at Eke-Ukwu Owerri market, Ogechi Iwu told Track News that she watched her customers grapple with escalating prices over the past months.

“Rice, garri, onions, noodles, everything has risen in price. Some have more than doubled, others have jumped by various percentages due to high cost of transportation caused by fuel hike,” she said.

Some motorists narrated how filling stations within the State have continued to hoard the products, making the situation tougher for residents.

A commercial bus driver, Chijioke Aneke said black market operators around Egbu road, among others, hawk and dangle the product at almost every corner at a very high price.

“One litre of petrol is sold for as high as N600,” he lamented.

A commercial taxi driver, Emeka Chijindu said the hike in fare was completely inevitable, stressing “We buy petrol at N350/litre, some places, N400/litre.”

He said new tyres that were N7,000 are now N35, 000. I can go on. If we don’t increase transport fares, it’s simple pure business suicide.”

He said they were much bothered about availability of fuel for purchase than the price increase.

“We are all managing to survive. We feel commuters’ pains but we can’t help it. It’s the country we found ourselves in,” he said