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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Motorists and commuters in some parts of the Federal Capital Teritory (FCT) were yesterday stranded due to the scarcity of petrol to get to their destinations.
Most commuters were forced to abandon their vehicles on the road in frustration. Other hopped on commercial motorcycles to continue on their journeys.
It was also noticed that from Karshi, Orozo, Jikwoyi axis of the FCT, commuters had tough time getting to their destinations as motorists spent hours in queues waiting to be served in the few filling stations that had the product to sell.
The situation was not different in the Zone 1 Area of the FCT as the road where the NNPC mega station is situated was completely blocked by vehicles queuing up around the filling station and struggling to obtain fuel.
Those from Karshi, Orozo,, Jikwoyi axis were completely cut off from the city centre as fuel queues in the areas spilled onto both sides of the Karshi-Nyanya expressway stopping vehicular traffic.
The queues forced the traffic gridlock to stretch down the roads for kilometres.
Commercial motorcyclists were quick to capitalise on the situation by hiking their price per passenger.
A trip from Jikwoyi to Kugbo along the Nyanya-Keffi expressway, which usually cost N200 shot up to about N1,000.
The same was reported by commuters coming into the city from the Jos, Keffi, Mararaba axis, who also found themselves stuck in slow moving traffic for hours.
Some of the commuters complained of frustration given the price hike while others lamented that they were forced to miss their work or other important engagements for the day.
Those who managed to get to work from Ado area of Nasarawa said instead of N200 transport fare to Aya, they spent N1, 000 or N1,500 using bike.
Some vehicle owners said they had to spend the night at the filling stations before they were able to buy fuel.
Some of the commuters blamed the authorities of the FCT authorities for not taking proactive measures to avoid such constant traffic stress, pointing at the Apo-Karshi Road, which has been under endless construction for about a decade.
The construction of the road, conceived to divert traffic from the busy Nyanya-Keffi Expressway has suffered delays due to paucity of funds and engineering design defect.
Residents have now appealed to the Minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, to do all that is necessary to complete the project and relieve them of daily traffic stress.
