Umuahia residents groan as petrol stations, banks close businesses

Following the removal of the petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, prices of petroleum products have skyrocketed in Abia State.

Also, most petrol stations in the city closed the gates to their facilities on Tuesday and displayed ‘No Fuel’ signs at their entrance.

The few that opened for business sold petrol, also known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), between N520 and N550 per litre, while black market operators sold at N600.

It was also a bad day for truck drivers, who could not buy diesel to fill their vehicles’ tanks.

As a result, commercial transporters hiked transport fares by 100 percent.

Intra-city shuttle buses and tricycle operators, known as Keke NAPAP, charged N200 and N250 for a drop, away from the previous N100 they collected.

The state capital, Umuahia, experienced low vehicular movements as commercial transporters left their vehicles at home, forcing passengers to trek for long distances to their destinations.

Similarly, commercial banks in Umuahia did not open their halls for customers on Tuesday.

In all banks visited by our reporter at Library Avenue, popularly known as ‘Bank Road’ and at Umuwaya Road, customers were seen stranded as they were told by security men, to come back on Wednesday, leaving the customers frustrated.

In some of the banks, however, Automated Teller Machines, ATMs were dispensing money to customers.

No notice was pasted on the walls of the banks about the non-service inside their halls, but a staff in one of the banks said it was a careful security decision.

The staff, who pleaded anonymity, said his bank was studying the security situation in the town.

Asked if their branch’s closure stemmed from the May 30 ‘Biafra Day’ declaration by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, the staff declined a response.
It would be recalled that IPOB declared May 30 as a ‘compulsory’ sit-at-home to celebrate Biafra Day.