Motorists in Hadejia, Jigawa have expressed concern over hikes in pump price, occasioned by fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.

A check on Tuesday in Hadejia showed that the price of petrol had shot up by about 10 per cent in the past few days, despite significant improvement in the supply of the product.

The survey indicated that most of the servicing stations were dispensing fuel at N155 as against the N145 pump price.

A cross section of the motorists, who spoke, blamed oil marketers for the unilateral hikes in the pump price.

Malam Habibu Aminu, a commercial bus operator, blamed the oil marketers for the hike in price and diversion of the product.

Aminu alleged that the oil marketers had refused to abide by the government’s directives to dispense petrol at control price, a trend, which exposed motorists to difficulties.

“The government has approved N145 pump price, but the oil marketers pushed the price up to exploit consumers, “he said.

Another motorist, Balarabe Yau, alleged that some of the servicing stations in the area had adjusted their litres to shortchange consumers.

Yau decried the situation, which he said had forced him to park his car, as he could not afford the exorbitant prices.

He called on the government to adopt proactive measures to regulate activities of oil marketers and enforce compliance with the approved pump price.