By Mumini Abdulkareem with Agency report
A combined team of security agencies have arrested seven hawkers of petrol in Ilorin as scarcity of the product continues to bite harder in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
The team which comprised personnel drawn from the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC), were sighted raiding black market spots at Post Office, Maraba and Challenge among other areas in the metropolis.
The Public Relations Officer of NSCDC in Kwara, Kunle Bilesanmi, confirmed the arrests to newsmen in Ilorin, yesterday.
He said the team also seized more than 3,000 litres of petrol from the hawkers.
Two filling stations, (Bollyma and Anuolu) he added, were forced to sell at government approved price of N145 per litre in Amoyo, lfelodun Local Government Area of the state.
The action followed series of complaints received by NSCDC from some residents that the affected filling stations were dispensing the product between N200 to N250 per litre.
The Kwara NSCDC Commandant, Wasiu Adeyinka-Ayinla who led some of his officers to the two stations expressed dissatisfaction that the marketers were dispensing the product above the official pump price.
He immediately ordered the fuel to be sold to motorists and motorcyclists who have been on the queue for several hours.
While monitoring the sale of the commodity, the Commandant ordered that 30 litres of the product be sold to all vehicles and a sum of N1000 to all motorcyclists on the queue.
Speaking further on the raiding, Bilesanmi said, “We started the raid since December, 2017, and we will not stop until sanity is restored to the system.
A survey revealed that a litre of petrol now sells for between N300 and N400 in the numerous black market spots in Ilorin.
Many commuters now resort to trekking long distances because of the high transport fares due to the acute shortage of petrol.
A resident, Sulaiman Asekunlowo, lamented that the fuel scarcity had inflicted untold hardship on him.
He noted that a drop by commercial vehicles and motorcycles had increased to between N100 and N200 as against N50 and N70 respectively charged before the fuel crisis.
He urged the relevant agencies to expedite action in tackling the crisis.
A trader, Comfort Ayinde, said the protracted fuel scarcity was taking a toll on the economy and the lives of the people.
Ayinde stated that only few vehicles were on the road, leaving many passengers stranded.
“I waited for more than an hour to board a cab from Maraba to Geri-Alimi; this would have taken less than five minutes under a normal situation,” she said.
