Residents of Port Harcourt, Rivers State are now buying fuel at the exorbitant of N120 per litre as against the N97 per litre price set up by the federal government.
Our reporter who investigated the increase in the pump price blamed the trend on greedy marketers who are bent on milking the public by all means.
The investigation revealed that all the filling stations along Akpajo-Eleme now sell at N120 per litre and that the price is not negotiable. The fuel attendant will inform the buyer while the choice of buying or not depends on the cash at hand.
The filling stations along NTA-Choba road are not left out as they also sell at this high price. It is important to note that the stations along Ada-George are the worst of them because of their much adjusted meter.
The worst of them is one Tonimas filling station as the meter is over adjusted despite the high cost of fuel.
Some citizens who were interviewed blamed the Rivers State Petroleum Task Force for their plight.
Those who are affected by this ugly trend wondered why the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has refused to sanction those erring marketers.
They called on the Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi to prevail on these shylock filling station owners to adjust the pump to the normal price of N79 per litre.
Some of those who were interviewed in Port Harcourt said they could not understand why they will pay more for fuel when we have two refineries and other fuel tank farms at Abonnema-Wharf.
Others blamed the state government task force for not doing enough, rather they compromise and collect money from the owners of the filling stations and allow them sell fuel anyhow they like.
Pius Dukor
