Residents of Owerri and other inhabitants of the Eastern Heartland, Imo State woke up on Monday 24th June, 2013, in utter shock and disbelief that no petrol service station opened their fuel stations for operation.
In what appeared an organized passive protest, petroleum marketers closed shop on Monday and refused to sell to customers forcing residents to an untold hardship.
Business and normal vehicular movements were reduced to barest minimum as vehicles without fuel littered the streets of Owerri and environs.
The inability of motorists to get fuel also affected business and commercial activities in the state.
Attempts by our reporter to speak to fuel marketers on reasons for their new posture proved abortive as they failed to speak. One of the marketers who pleaded anonymity told Trumpeta “we were asked to shut our fuel station and that anybody who opens, will pay N100,000 fine to the task force monitoring the strike.
Trumpeta however gathered that the petroleum marketers strike may not be unconnected to the government recent ultimatum given to petroleum dealers in the state to show their “Building Approval” or have their outfit sealed or demolished.
The Owerri Capital Development Authority OCDA in a bid to ascertain illegal structures in the state commenced operation show your “Building Approval” for all petrol filling stations located within Owerri Federal Capital territory.
According to OCDA, General Manager, TPL Iheanyi Abaekwun, owners of petrol filling stations are expected “to present or show evidence of their petrol filling stations from OCDA before the end of June as erring operators stand the risk of having their petrol station sealed or demolished”.
Motorists have to rely on “black-market” where prices of fuel are sold at exorbitant rates where available.
According to reliable sources who spoke to Trumpeta in anonymity, the reason behind the sudden hike on pump of petroleum price cannot be far from the huge amount of One Million naira tariff by Imo State government which it imposed on the Independent oil marketers. However, some independent oil marketers refused to speak to Trumpeta on the reasons for the sudden hike in fuel price and heightening of hardship in the state.
Regrettably, this sudden and dastardly act on the hike of petrol has brought scarcity of the product; thereby causing stampede in the state, as commercial motorists, etc, increased transportation fare to recover the huge amount of money they spent in buying petrol, as scarcity of transportation has become the order of the day in Imo State.
Some commercial motorists and Keke Napep drivers who spoke to Trumpeta on condition of anonymity said the reason for the increase on transportation fare is to recover their expenses on high price of fuel.
