Petrol scarcity worsened in different parts of Nigeria on Tuesday and motorists spent hours at filling stations in their battle to get the product.
Black marketers, according to a Punch report, had a field day, selling a litre of petrol between N300 and N400 in many parts of the country. And desperate motorists who could not afford to wait long hours at filling stations had to patronise them.
The situation has led to a sudden increase in transport fares across the country.
In Lagos, for instance, a trip from Iyana-Isolo to Berger along Lagos-Ibadan expressway that used to go for N500 jumped to N800 on Tuesday. The fare from Iyana Oworo to Berger was raised from N300 to N400, according to a Punch report.
Amid long queues and waiting hours in Lagos, some filling stations sold a litre of the Premium Motor Spirit at N200/litre as against the approved price of N180-N185/litre.
A Punch correspondent who visited some filling stations around Ikotun, Egbeda and Ojodu Berger areas reported long queues at the few stations that managed to sell.
A businessman, Kayode Oloriegbe, said he could not wait to buy from filling stations, but had to patronise a black marketer who sold at N300/litre.
“I was lucky to buy a 10-litre gallon at N3,500. Others said they bought at higher prices from the black marketers,” he said.
A tricyclist, Ade, who operates between Ago Palace Way and Second Rainbow Bus Stop at Amuwo-Odofin, said, “Black marketers sell five litres at N1,700 at Ago Palace during the day and N2500 at night. This is a normal thing. Whenever we are approaching the end of the year, we mostly witness fuel scarcity.”
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One of our correspondents who went round the Isolo, Okota and Ilasa axis in Lagos witnessed that only one out of six petrol stations around that axis sold petrol to motorists and other consumers. Others said they did not have petrol.
Two NNPC filling stations before Sule Abore Street in Ojodu were shut.
The attendants at the filling stations told The Punch that they had run out of fuel. They, however, said they were expecting to get the supply before the end of yesterday (Tuesday).
At Bova’s filling station, a long queue caused traffic gridlock along Ogba road as of the time of filing this report.
Similarly, a long queue was sighted at Rainoil filling at Berger Roundabout, with some drivers alleging that they were charged an extra N300 by fuel attendants. The attendants declined to speak with our correspondent.
At the Eterna Oil filling station located before Afeez Bus Stop, Ojodu Berger, there was also a long queue.
One of the fuel attendants said the trucks that were supposed to supply them with fuel did not turn up.
A similar long queue was seen at the Amuf Oil filling station at the Grammar School Bus Stop, Ojodu Berger.
An attendant at Oando filling station, Aguda, after Omole Bus Stop, who spoke with The Punch, told one of our correspondents that the flood that occurred a few days ago caused fuel prices to shoot up at depots, making it difficult for many stations to sell at regulated prices.
Checks by one of our correspondents revealed that many of the petrol stations along Alagbole/Akute/Denro/Ajuwon axis were shut due to the unavailability of petrol, while some of the filling stations witnessed small crowds of motorists jostling to manoeuvre through the queues.
It was also observed that while some of the filling stations sold at N180/litre, others sold as high as N185 as motorists flooded forecourts of gas stations in search of petrol.
A motorist, who identified himself as Alabi, said he had tried to get the product from more than three different stations on Tuesday before retiring out of frustration.
“When I came back from work yesterday, I tried at least three different filling stations, all to no avail. None of them sold. This one is out of the blue. The country is just becoming frustrating. Here, they sell at N180. By the time you come tomorrow, they might sell at N190.”
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On the Iyana-Iba – Egbeda axis, only two filling stations (Oando and Total) were sold as at the time of this report while the gates of other stations, including the ones belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), were under lock and key.
Other stations such as TotalEnergies, Ardova, 11 Plc and Fatgbems on the Berger expressway had long queues as of Tuesday morning.
Stations such as TotalEnergies and NNPCL sold at N180 per litre.
In Katsina State, operators of illegal fuel depots known as “Bubulutu” were the only ones that sold fuel to motorists and other users of the product.
The few filling stations that still sold the product, especially in the state capital, only sold for a few hours before announcing to motorists that the product was no longer available.
Although the majority of the black market operators sold at N2,000 per four-litre keg, they still recorded heavy patronage due to the non-availability of the product in many filling stations in the state.
Fuel scarcity was first observed at the beginning of October in the state and was attributed to the flooding witnessed along some of the routes which vehicles supplying fuel passed through.
The situation was still on as of Tuesday.
It was also observed that the few filling stations sold fuel to motorists N240 and N270 per litre.
Some motorists said the development had forced them to buy the products from neighbouring states where they alleged they found it easier to buy without much stress.
A lecturer at a University in Katsina said, “What I do these days before coming to Katsina is to fill up my car either in Kano or in Gusau and also buy an extra 25 litres to take care of my movements while here. I believe the fuel scarcity is more or less artificial, instead of all these flooding reasons being given as excuses.”