Cost Of Kerosene Soars In Enugu, Edo

The cost of obtaining kerosene for domestic cooking needs is fast getting out of reach of the common man in some parts of Enugu, the coal city, and environs.

Our source in Enugu said on Saturday that the cost per litre of kerosene has increased by between 200 per cent and 250 per cent of the approved pump price of N50 per litre.

At various dispensing outlets in Enugu, reports indicate that the price now ranges from between N150 and N170 per litre.

At the C & C Filling Station, Agbani Road, the product now sells for N170 per liter while at African Petrol Filling Station, Coal Camp, Enugu, and Avis Station at Coal Camp, the product sells for N150 per liter.

Retailers sell a beer bottle of kerosene for N180.

A trader who retails the product in bottles at Umuoji Street, Mrs Ifeoma Eke, sells a beer bottle of the product at between N180 and N200.

Chief Chukwudi Ezinwa, Chairman, South East Zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) explained in an interview that kerosene has partially been deregulated.

He said the development could account for the frequent scarcity of the product.

Meanwhile, residents of Auchi, Edo State, have resorted to the use of charcoal and firewood for cooking as scarcity of kerosene persists around the country.

Investigations revealed that most filling stations in Auchi and its environs have long run out of kerosene with a few still managing to sell the product at N160 per litre.

Black marketer operators, who are found mainly around major street junctions in Auchi, sell a litre of kerosene for between N200 and N250.

Mrs Edith Elajah and Munirat Audu said the scarcity of the product and its attendant high cost had forced them into using firewood and charcoal for  cooking, adding that even firewood and charcoal had become expensive because of the demand for them.

At the only filling station on Igbe Road where kerosene was being sold in Auchi on Saturday, an official who does not want to be mentioned, said that the price of the product was determined by the cost of importation.

With the scarcity of kerosene in Asaba, the Delta State capital, and its environs, firewood, which was seen as a cheaper alternative, has also become expensive.

In the Delta capital, a litre of kerosene currently sells at N150 in filling stations while costing between N200 and N500 in the various black market spots in the city.

Investigations revealed that a small bundle of eight pieces of firewood, which was sold at N350 toward the end of 2010, currently sells at between N500 and N600.

The same quantity of firewood, it was gathered, was sold at between N150 and N200 in 2009.

Apart from Asaba and Isele-Uku, the high price of firewood was also noticeable in Agbor, Ogwashi-Uku, Akwukwu-Igbo and other communities in the area.