Borno residents dump cars for horses, trekking over high fuel price

Following the nationwide increase in the price of petrol on Tuesday, more residents and workers including civil servants in Borno State have abandoned their vehicles to embrace trekking, horse riding and the use of bicycles and tricycles for mobility.

During a tour of Maiduguri, the state capital in the early hours of Thursday, PUNCH Metro observed less vehicles on the road and more pedestrians including horse and bicycle riders on major roads.

One of the pedestrians, Dadoon Pam, who is a graphic designer, told our correspondent that the cost of mobility had increased significantly as tricycle riders now refer to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s increase in petroleum products price, making commuters pay almost double the amount before.

He said, “This fuel price hike has affected me terribly because as a graphic designer, I need electricity to make my design. 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, who narrated her experience, said she had adjusted to breaking her morning movement by trekking halfway before boarding a tricycle.

She says, “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 10 to 30 minutes before seeing a tricycle going towards my direction  because many riders have packed their tricycle 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 while noting that it saved cost, especially for a few kilometre movements.

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.”

On his part, a member of an NGO, Daniel Omolara, said, “Since I brought my car down to Maiduguri, I have never for one day left it at home to go to work. But today, if I try to drive that car out, I may push it back home. There is no money to buy fuel at that rate. Honestly, N5,000 fuel can no longer take me a day. Where will I be getting such money from?”

Similarly, a private school teacher in D’littles International Maiduguri, Micheal Johnson, told our correspondent that he had embraced trekking and tricycles because the riders had increased fare prices almost double the amount before the price increased.

“My school is not too far, I went there today on my own foot. Although we haven’t resumed, if it persists after resumption, I will learn to wake up earlier,”  he said.

PUNCH Metro recalls 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.