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As fuel scarcity hits the country, with increase in the price of petroleum products, some residents and civil servants in Borno State have abandoned their vehicles to embrace trekking, horse riding as well as the use of bicycles for mobility.
The state capital was flooded with horses, bicycles with less of vehicles on the major roads, Rocketparrot News gathered.
One of the pedestrians, Dadoon Pam, said the cost of mobility had increased significantly making commuters pay double for their trips.
He said, “This fuel price hike has affected me terribly because as a graphics designer, I need electricity to make my designs.
"Now that we depend solely on fuel to work, this increase means I now have to charge my clients more. Though it will be bad for business, I don’t have any option as we speak.”
An enumerator with a Non-Governmental Organisation, The Big Smile Foundation, in Maiduguri, Jeremiah Blessing, said she had adjusted to breaking her morning movement by trekking halfway before boarding a tricycle.
She said, “What I do now is to break my movement, trek to a point, then take Keke from there. Since the hike in fuel prices, it has not been easy because I go to work late almost every day.
"Sometimes, I stand up to 30 minutes before seeing a tricycle going towards my direction because many riders have parked their tricycles due to the price increase.”
Another resident who is a retired Customs officer, Tuja Mai Abba, said ever since the price increase, he had abandoned his vehicle for commercial tricycles.
According to him, “The government is confusing us about this issue of fuel subsidy and availability. You hear one story today and another story tomorrow. It is seriously affecting me, I have abandoned my car for a while now.”
Recall that the pump price was, on Tuesday, increased to N855 per litre, with the prices varying across locations at the NNPC stations in the country.
