By HEADLINENEWS.NEWS correspondent
Travellers and commuters nationwide were stranded at bus stops and motor parks yesterday as the petrol scarcity in the country bites harder.
This came as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC Ltd, and oil marketers said they were intensifying efforts to tackle the scarcity.
Many filling stations without the product remained closed in Lagos and Abuja yesterday, while those that have the product continued to sell to motorists and other users.
Vanguard gathered that many motorists and other users were compelled by circumstances to patronise black market operators who openly sold the product along Ikorodu Road, Isolo and other locations, in cans at between N900 and N1,000 per litre.
Similar high fares were charged in different Abuja routes, yesterday, and this led to a sharp increase in both inter and intra-state journeys.
Consequently, commuters were stranded at bus stops, while travellers were also stranded in motor parks due to high fares charged by transporters.
HEADLINENEWS.NEWS gathered Lagos-Abuja trip which hitherto cost about N30,000 rose to as high as N50,000 yesterday, prompting some travellers to cancel their trips.
In Makurdi, the Benue state capital, the pump price of petrol hit N780 per litreas most filling stations in the town remained under lock without product to dispense.
Investigations revealed that a few that had products to sell, such as NNPC Mega Station on New Otukpo Road which was dispensing at N617 per litre had long queues of cars, commercial buses and motorcycles waiting patiently to purchase.
At the time of this report, most of the major and independent marketers in the town had no product to sell, while the few that had were dispensing between it for between N770 and N780 per litre to stranded motorists.
“Sadly, this scarcity is happening at the time Nigerians are dying because they are finding it difficult to feed and take care of their health needs since the removal of subsidy,’’ he said.
In the Jos-Bukuru metropolis, it was learned that the cost of transport fare imposed by the taxi and tricycle operators had increased by 17% to 50%, depending on bargaining power and the willingness of the operator to accept.
While the drivers complained about the high cost of fuel, which was sold at N850 per litre, commuters lamented that paying the increased price had added more burden to their lean resources.
From the PRTVC Roundabout in the Rayfield area to the Kwang/Lamingo Road axis, which used to be between N150 and N200, is now N200 or N300. Lamingo Road to Bukuru which used to be N400 is now N500, and the British-American junction to Polo roundabout which used to be N200 is now N300.
Task force raids filling stations in Ilorin, warns against hoarding
Meanwhile, the Kwara State government’s task force also yesterday raided some filling stations within the Ilorin metropolis, cautioning them against hoarding fuel.
The government said the raid was part of measures to address fuel scarcity in the state.
“This is a committee set up by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to solve the problem of fuel shortage. As a responsible and responsive government, we cannot be folding our arms watching.
‘’We have to see that the majority of our people enjoy the dividends of democracy,” the leader of the task force and Chief of Staff, Government House, Prince Mahe Abdulkadir, told reporters during the exercise
“We observed that the major marketers are doing their best so far because we checked their pits.”
Prince Abdulkadir, who called on the people of the state to be patient and avoid panic-buying, said further: “We want to call on the people of the state to be patient and avoid panic buying, saying the federal government is not trying to increase the prices of fuel. We will make sure our people are not short-changed.”
NMDPRA is absent at filling stations
However, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, responsible for monitoring and sanctioning stakeholders involved in illegal practices has not been visible at the filling stations, making it possible for dealers to exploit motorists and other users of the product.
Lagos govt warns motorists against creating gridlock on roads
Meanwhile, most Lagos residents yesterday had a hectic time getting to their destinations as the current fuel scarcity hit more in most parts of the state, resulting in the availability of few commercial vehicles on the roads.
Checks by our reporter showed that some of the usually busy roads on a Monday morning were practically deserted as commercial buses hiked fares by more than 100 per cent.
Also, passengers were stranded at various bus stops in some areas, while others resorted to trekking.
It was also discovered that only a few filling stations, mainly NNPC stations, sold the product, with long queues across the metropolis.
It was gathered that the few filling stations dispensed the product sold for between N700 and N750 per litre.
In some filing stations run by independent marketers, the price of the product sold for as high as N900 per litre, while in the black market, it sold between N1,500 and N2,000 per litre.
Meanwhile, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, has warned motorists in fuel queues against causing traffic gridlocks on the road to allow the free flow of vehicles.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, gave the warning following gridlock at some filling stations occasioned by fuel scarcity.
Oki, who spoke through the Public Affairs Officer, Taofik Adebayo, noted that the development had been impeding the free flow of traffic on major roads.
“Any motorist caught impending traffic will have his or her vehicle impounded,’’ he warned.
Bakare-Oki added that LASTMA personnel had been drafted to some specific filling stations at busy areas to ensure a smooth flow of traffic
We have adopted a new strategy to end the shortage — MEMAN
In a telephone interview with Vanguard, yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer/Executive Secretary of the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, MEMAN, Clement Isong, who confirmed the development, said: “All are lifting and sharing in swaps to kill the queues since last Sunday, a lot has been done to eliminate queues as quickly as possible. Many of our members have been lifting the product.
We have even put in place an arrangement that enables those without the product to borrow from those that have it.
‘’With this understanding among our members, everyone now has the product to enhance distribution in all parts of Nigeria. We work late every day to end this shortage.”
It’ll take a few days to eliminate queues — NNPC
Similarly, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, said: “All parties are working to eliminate the queues. If there are disruptions in fuel distribution for two or three days, it typically takes double that time to return to normal.”
