Residents in Anambra State have continued to lament the high cost of kerosene and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), as scarcity of the products bite harder across homes.
The commodities have virtually disappeared from so many filling stations in the state.
The kerosene, which formerly sold at N270-300 per litre, now costs N450 per in fuel stations while #500 per 75cl bottle are sold by the roadside dealers.
Our correspondent who visited some filling stations in Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi and Ekwulobia, on Saturday, revealed that the commodities were scarce.
Residents have therefore resorted to other options like using electrical cooking gas despite the risk, charcoal and firewood to meet their domestic cooking rather than buying the products at exorbitant prices.
Some residents, who spoke to News Echo, said that the high cost of the commodity was worrisome couple with children school fees and increase house rent.
They appealed to the governor of the state, Chukwuma Soludo, to intervene in the matter as life was becoming unbearable for them.
Mrs. Nkiruka Onyia a food vendors civil servant told our correspondent that the products were needed daily to prepare food but the high cost of kerosene was no longer within her affordability.
“The masses are suffering; life is becoming unbearable because food is part of our existence while prices of kerosene and gas have gone up beyond our reach,’ she said.
A Civil Servant, Mrs. Uche Onuka a house wife, said that the high cost of kerosene, which was her daily use for cooking, had made her to resort to the use of fire woods.
“Even at high prices, the kerosene dries faster than usual when you light the stove. I think the problem is that the population is high than the commodity. “I will continue to use fire woods until the price comes down,’’ she stated.
Mr. Aliu Mala, a Suya seller at Housa settlement, Amasea in Awka North local government area of the state, begs the government to step into the scarcity of kerosene and cooking gas, alleging that as some retailers were hoarding the commodities to add more suffering to the masses.
