Commuters trek, motorists sleep at filling stations as petrol scarcity bites harder

From Uche Usim, Abuja 

With petrol going for N500/litre at the black market as petrol scarcity lingers, motorists in Abuja have been forced to sleep at filling stations to refuel their vehicles.

Transporters constitute the bulk of drivers who pass the night at various petrol sales outlets. Once they knock off for the dey at dusk, they just retire to any filling station, especially those who carry out 24-hour operations, to buy the commodity before dawn.

According to those who spoke with Daily Sun, the discomforting strategy has become inevitable as black market is not an option.

Buying at daytime is hellish because of the scalding sun amid horrendous vehicular traffic.

“The long queues during the day will rob us a chance to work and earn a living. 

“Again, you can’t even afford the black market. It’s N500 a litre in some parts of Abuja. If you’re lucky, you’ll get it for N400 or N450/litre. This is an oil producing country for goodness sake! When will this man-made horror end?”, Mark Odunsi, a civil engineer who doubles as a commercial bus driver lamented.

Another motorist, Jude Lawrence, said buying from the black market was not only a purse drainer but a vehicle wrecker as he once bought petrol from a jerrycan hitherto used to store vegetable oil that was not properly cleaned.

“The chemical reaction almost knocked my engine. It’s really a terrible development but I usually queue at filling stations after rounding off for the day. At times, if I’m lucky, I’ll buy before 10pm. Sometimes, I’ll buy around 2am. I sleep in my car. I bath in the morning with water I source from the filling station. I have my little bucket in my trunk. I also have my soap and sponge and other toiletries. If my car is too dirty, I’ll clean it before setting off for the day. That is the ugly situation we found ourselves”, he said.

Jerry Ogedengbe, another motorist, appealed to the government to look into the scarcity challenge.

“Last year, I slept at filling stations to get fuel when the scarcity worsened. This year again, we’re back here. 

“Must the poor man die for the rich in Nigeria?”, he lamented.

For Muftau Waheed, another motorist, the petrol scarcity horror is upsetting his business and ultimately damaging the economy.

“No petrol to run my generator. No electricity too. The government does not want the poor man to survive. It’s a bad situation”, he stated.

A taxi driver, John Amos, said his blood pressure has remained frighteningly high for weeks running that the petrol crisis has lingered.

“Once in two days, I must languish in queues for hours. At times, after all the stress, I’ll still not get the product. Some of my friends sleep in filling stations. As in they work and retire there. They sleep in their cars. Isn’t that unpardonable for an energy producing nation like Nigeria? It’s totally unfair”, he wailed.

The ugly development has forced commuters to trek long distances as very few commercial vehicles are on the road.

Gladys Owoh, civil servant, narrated a nerve-racking story of how she was robbed while trekking to the bus stop in Wuse, where she would get an airport road taxi.

“From nowhere, two men accosted me. This was just about 6pm. They brandished daggers in broad daylight. I was frozen in fear. I surrendered my handbag immediately and therein were my ATM card, mobile phone, N2,800, receipts and house keys. If not for scarcity of taxis, I would not need to trek in the first place and perhaps not lose my valuables”, she lamented.