Commuters Stranded As Fuel Scarcity Grounds Transportation Services In Ogun
… Motorists Flock to NNPC Stations for Affordable Fuel
By: Raymond Osho
On Monday, in a chaotic morning scene, commuters heading to work, schools, and various destinations in Abeokuta Ogun state,found themselves stranded due to severe fuel scarcity that crippled commercial transportation services.
The scarcity which is attributed to increased demand and supply challenges, led to a shortage of available public transportation options.
This development of fuel scarcity and increase in price is despite claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that the logistic issues causing fuel scarcity had been addressed,
Fackt News reports that commercial motorists were unable to operate as they were all queued up at filling stations in different locations at the state capital in a desperate bid to purchase fuel.
The situation was exacerbated by the fact that many motorists were specifically targeting NNPC filling stations at Iyana-Motuary, Ijaye, Kolobo amongst other locations, where fuel was reportedly being sold at a lower price of N580 compared to other outlets which sell for N700, N750 and N800.
Also, most private fuel stations in Abeokuta have shot down operations.
There were queues of vehicles and motorcycles in most of the stations visited by our reporters leading to gridlock in the areas with security operatives including soldiers, controlling traffic.
As a result of this development, commuters were left with limited transportation choices, causing frustration and delays in reaching their intended destinations.
Fack News also reported that commuters, including primary and secondary school students were stranded at Paseke, Iyana Mortuary, Ijaye, Sapon and other bus stops waiting for tax to convey them to their different destination.
Speaking to our reporter, Ope Adeoye said “I have been standing here for almost 45 minutes waiting for a cab and even the cabs that have stopped so far were charging too high. Only God knows our fate in this country.
A student, Mathew Ireoluwa “If me and my friend wait a little longer here, we may decide to return home because there is no cab. We learnt that most of the feeling stations are not selling fuel that is why there are no cabs on the road. We are tired.
Also reacting, a motorist said “To be honest, I am sick and tired of this country and the current administration. We cannot continue like this. Government promised us that the price of fuel will drop, is it now dropping? The situation is getting worse by the day and they are not doing anything about it. How did we get here?
SCHOOLS RECORD LOW STUDENT ATTENDANCE DUE TO THE SITUATION
The situation also prevented some students from attending schools on Monday as many of them had to return home due to scarcity of commercial transportation caused by the scarcity.
The proprietress of a school at Sokori area of Abeokuta, speaking to Fake News disclosed that some of the students trekked to school from their homes.
“Some of our students trekked to school this morning. That boy over there (pointing to a little boy) trekked to school with his mother and his younger sister from Olomore, a far distance.
IPMAN SAYS FUEL SCARCITY WILL LAST FOR 14 DAYS
As the current fuel scarcity continues to bite hard, and spreading to more states across Nigeria, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has disclosed that the scarcity will take at least 14 days to resolve.
IPMAN’s Public Relations Officer, Chinedu Ukadike, attributed the cause of the scarcity of petrol to importation bottlenecks and slow pace of marketers’ license renewal by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NWDPRA.
Ukadike said, “The situation is that there is no product. Once there is a lack of supply or inadequate supply, what you will see is scarcity and queues will emerge at filling stations.
“On the part of NNPCL, which is the sole supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, they have attributed the challenge to logistics and vessel problems.
“Once there is a breach in the international supply chain, it will have an impact on domestic supply because we depend on imports. I also have it on good authority that most of the refineries in Europe are undergoing turnaround maintenance, so sourcing petroleum products has become a bit difficult.
“NNPC Group CEO has assured us that there will be improvement in the supply chain because their vessels are arriving. Once that is done, normalcy will return. This is because once the 30-day supply sufficiency is disrupted, it takes two to three months to restore it.
“We expect that by next week or so, NNPC should be able to restore supply and within another week, normalcy should return”.
