PLATEAU: Litre Of Fuel Sells At N150 At Black Market

It is a fact that Plateau State is hard hit by the dearth of fuel now. Despite assurances by the federal government that the product would flood the market in the next few days, the scarcity has continued unabated in the state.

Car owners, commercial drivers and tricycle operators are now at the mercy of black market operators who fix prices uncontrollably as the market booms.
  
A litre of fuel at the black market goes for between N130 and N150, while a five litre gallon goes for between N800 to N850 depending on where one buys.
 
At the NNPC Mega Filling Station Dogo Karfe near the State Secretariat Junction where fuel was available, a litre sold for the government price of N87, but there is always an unprecedented long queue. The situation discourages residents who believe that even if the commodity were there in sufficient quantity, it would mean sleeping at the station to get it.
 
At TOTAL filling Station in Dadin Kowa, there is always also a long queue, while a litre sells for between N90 and N100.
   
Women are not left out in the black market business. They said that it is the only business that is thriving for now as they abandon their usual petty trade, claiming that the drivers could not get fuel to transport their goods from the farms to the city.

Interestingly, the tricycle operators, commercial drivers have not increase their fares because workers in the state are on strike now.
 
A commercial car driver told The Guardian that they pity the commuters majority of whom are workers who are on strike for the inability of the government to pay their salaries. The black market operators display their wares in public, as people in uniforms even patronise them.