Scarcity of petrol across the country, which was first noticed in Owerri two weeks ago, has combined with widespread industrial actions in many institutions to paralyze business activities in the state.

Informed sources blame the scarcity on the failure of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to release on time the first quarter allocation for petrol to marketers.

Filling stations were selling petrol for between N130 and N150 per litre on Wednesday, while in the black market, the price ranges between N700 and N800 for a gallon (four litres).

Long queues have now sprung up in many filling stations especially at the Control Post where two NNPC MEGA stations are situated. They still sell at the official price of N97.

Transport costs have gone up 50 percent on account of the scarcity.

Some motorists, accuse some filling stations of adjusting their pumps and dispensing less than fair measure. On Thursday, the State Government closed three petrol stations for cheating.

The scarcity of fuel has resulted in untold hardship for the people even as the number of commercial vehicles plying the roads keep dropping on daily basis.  Drivers of the few vehicles charge outrageous transport fares to commuters.

The low business situation in major towns of Imo State occasioned by the fuel scarcity has been compounded by the industrial action embarked upon by several establishments.  These include the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education (AIFCE), Owerri, Federal Polytechnic Nekede, College of Health Tech. Amaigbo, and Specialist Hospital Umuguma.

The ripple effect of the shutting down of the gates of these institutions is that all the business outfits around them institutions which use to make them a beehive of activities have been paralyzed.

The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) and their polytechnics counterparts – Asup have vowed not to go back to work until their demands are met.  So are the striking workers of the other organizations.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has urged the federal government to tell Nigerians the reasons for the ongoing fuel scarcity which the party says has compounded the pains Nigerians already go through.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the fact that the scarcity has persisted makes the government inept in handling the situation. The Federal government had earlier blamed long queues at filling stations on panic buying.

It said the queues that have been witnessed in Lagos and other major cities in recent days are the longest and the most chaotic in Nigeria in recent years, and have shown that the situation is not just due to panic buying but a consequence of a more serious problem.

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