Long queues for petrol have resurfaced in the federal capital territory (FCT) and other Northern states causing anxiety and hardship for residents trying to get the product.
The scarcity of petrol is said to be caused by the refusal of marketers to load the product from the depots over an “ambiguous” price template.
Neptune Prime observed that many of the petrol stations in the nation’s capital were not open for business, while a few others selling the product had people waiting in lines in the scorching sun.
Dan Oil was among the few petrol stations selling the product apart from from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) stations.
Speaking with newsmen yesterday, Abdulmalik Abubakar, a resident of the FCT, said he spent over an hour struggling to purchase petrol in Gwarinpa.
“I spent one hour and about 30 minutes trying to buy fuel at Rain Oil in Gwarinpa. I’m tired, it is really frustrating,” Abubakar said.
In Damaturu, resident have also complained about the long queue and illegal extortion.
In a chat with Neptune Prime, most motorist blame the filling stations for hiding the petrol to create artificial scarcity which will in turn make the pumping price higher.
Also, its quite unusual that Maiduguri is experiencing total shortage of petrol in the month of February, its previously known to have high prices and shortage of petrol in the state and across the country at large in the month of December and sometimes January, however its has come with a different dimension this year.
All that can be seen across the city of Maiduguri with respect to petrol is empty locked fuel stations and long queues in the few stations that have petrol available, and hundreds of people crowded in the gates while some are struggling under the pumping machines with their gallons and having heated arguments in total disregards to the COVID-19 safety guidelines.
A tricycle rider who exclusively spoke to Neptune prime said “ I have been in the queue since 6:00am in the morning but didn’t get fuel till 12:00pm in the afternoon, many of my friends didn’t come out for work today , because almost all filling stations are closed and the black market is now selling at N500 per litter while passengers do not easily pay N100 per drop as to the normal N50 before the increased “.
Commuters however expressed hope that relevant task force will swing into action and bring the situation under control before some unscrupulous marketers take advantage of the situation to maximise profit at the detriment of the citizens.
