Residents of Calabar, the Cross River State capital, have lamented the rise in the price of Liguified Petroleum Gas (LPG) also known as cooking gas.
The price of the product in Calabar, recently rose from N1,300 to between N1,750 and N1,900 per kilogramme in both gas stations and roadside vendors.
In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday, the residents described the price increase as “alarming and frustrating.”
Miss Uduak Edem, a pump attendant in a popular gas station in Calabar metropolis, said that she does not know the real cause of the increase.
“I am just an attendant. The management fixed the new price, and we were not told the reason for the increase.
“We were only told to sell at N1,650 per litre, that is what I am doing, we won’t disobey management’s order, “she said.
Mr Noble Asuquo, a roadside gas vendor, said that he sold one kilogramme of gas for N1,900.
Asuquo stated that the price of gas had been on steady increase within the past three weeks.
“We were selling at N1,350 three weeks ago, this increase has reduced the purchasing power of my customers.
“Because of the new price, some users buy as little as one or two kilograms. It is rare to see people filling their cylinders these days,” he said.
A resident, Mrs Josephine Udoh, said that cooking gas was gradually becoming unaffordable by the ordinary people.
She urged the Federal Government to take deliberate steps towards reducing the price of cooking gas in the interest of low income Nigerians.
“I used to cook with kerosene burner until it became practically impossible to get kerosene due to availability and cost.
“I started using gas with the hope that it will be more available and cheaper. Gradually, gas is becoming unaffordable.(NAN)