The increase in price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is taking a toll on Nigerians, particularly residents of Bauchi State, as many car owners in the North East state have put their vehicles on sale.

The Guardian visited the Old Dass Park Mechanic Village, Bauchi-Jos road garage, Bauchi-Gombe road axis in the metropolis and saw many cars tagged ‘For Sale’.

One of the automobile mechanical engineers, Sani Mohammed, said: “Apart from the fact that we are not getting jobs like before, many of our customers are selling their cars to pay bills. Within this week, I have sold three of my customers’ cars. What they complained about were hardship and their inability to fuel the cars.”

Mohammed said about 15 cars were in the garage for distress sale. “We sold a Sharon commercial vehicle yesterday, one Peugeot 206, one Toyota Corolla and one Toyota Camry. All these were sold within our section of the garage. In another section, you have people bringing their cars for sale. All these cars are sold at ridiculous amounts.”

A panel beater, Usman Abubakar, said eight cars were brought in for sale between Monday and Wednesday. An Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, employee told The Guardian that his work place from his home is about 20 kilometres and he spent about N3,000 to fuel his vehicle, adding: “I have children in private school, but I am going to change their school to a neighbouring one. I want to sell this (Honda Civic) car, get a small motorcycle and pay my house rent.

“I was here, yesterday, when a commercial driver sold his Sharon vehicle; his asking price was N1.5 million, but after so much pressure, he sold it for N800,000. In fact, to get the buyers now is a difficult task.”