Queues spill to the roads as fuel scarcity intensifies in Lagos

Despite the promise of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that it would inject 688 million litres of premium motor spirit (PMS) to the market, the scarcity of fuel, which started in some parts of the country late last week, continued on Monday.

Unusual queues were found in all the filling stations in Lagos visited by TheCable. The heat of the scarcity was felt in areas such as Iyana-Ipaja, Bariga, Onipanu, Yaba, Agege and other parts of the city.

The queues compounded the woes of a cosmopolitan city known for traffic hassles even when fuel was in abundant supply.

The Total filling station at Ojota was locked, while MRS filling station nearby sold from only one pump.

Though the situation had not yet led to a hike in transportation fare as at Monday morning, Alimi Yusuff, a tricycle operator in Ojota, believes that the transportation cost would increase if the scarcity continues.

“I left my tricycle at the park and then had to queue at the filling station for an hour just to get five litres,” Yusuff told TheCable.

“I even had to pay extra N50 before they sold fuel to me.”

Vincent Ezeobi, a resident of Ikeja who joined the queue at Mobil filling station beside Airport Hotel on Awolowo way, also complained about the situation.

“They are not selling fuel to people carrying kegs and they are only selling 10 litres to the vehicles that come in,” he said.

“I am waiting here hoping they will start selling to people with kegs.”

While some filing stations are taking advantage of the situation to sell above pump price, ‘black marketers’ are also fleecing people by selling at the rate of N200.