TheCable

Long queues have surfaced at filling stations across Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, signalling a scarcity of petrol.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the few filling stations that opened for sale within Ibadan metropolis on Thursday had to cope with long queues of vehicles, motorcycles, tricycles, and jerry cans.

Private cars and commercial vehicles were seen joining long queues in all the petrol stations visited.

Most filling stations were reported to have closed early on Wednesday and stopped selling the product.

The development led to the crowding of the filling stations that dispensed the commodity.

The scarcity was observed in Mokola, Sabo, Agodi Gate, Secretariat Road, Total Garden, Sango, Dugbe, Iyaganku, Queen Elizabeth Road, and Challenge areas of Ibadan.

Speaking on the situation, Aina Abimbola, a commercial motorist, complained that the time spent queuing for fuel has affected his work.

“We want to work, but there is no fuel to work with. I earn daily income to make a living; so, I have to queue for fuel and get it at all costs to survive,” he said.

“Times are hard and we cannot cope with fuel scarcity as it will add to people’s sufferings.”

Olu Gbolarumi, another motorist, said some filling stations did not open for business, leading to queues at the available ones.

“We only noticed that not all filling stations were opened for business, hence, the rushing of motorists to filling stations, especially the commercial vehicles, leading to long queues in the few stations that opened,” Gbolarumi said.

“Sincerely, we don’t want this trouble again. This happened some months back; so, why is it happening again.”

A petrol attendant said he did not know the reason for the panic buying.

“We are just seeing people coming in and queuing for fuel. Our own is to sell. We don’t know why people are rushing in for fuel,” he said.

“We are still selling at the normal price and we cannot send people away.”

It is not yet clear why fuel queues have surfaced within the city.

However, the South-West zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), had on Wednesday, threatened to direct its members to increase the pump prices of petrol and diesel.

Dele Tajudeen, IPMAN zonal chairman in the South-West zone, claimed that his members had been unable to buy the products from any of the government-owned depots for the past six months, forcing them to purchase from private depot owners who had continued to take advantage of the situation.

He said the action would be taken if government failed to rectify the problem.

TheCable had reported that long queues were seen at some filling stations in some parts of Abuja last week.

The development was blamed on an inadequate supply of petrol from depots in Lagos.