Fuel queues resurface in Lagos

Long queues built up in filling stations across Lagos State on Friday, creating fears of impending fuel scarcity.

Our correspondent, who went around the city, gathered that the queues in some of the filling stations affected the free flow of traffic.

At the AP filling station in Alapere, commuters were held in traffic on Friday morning as vehicle owners and individuals struggled to buy fuel.

The station stopped dispensing fuel later in the day.

There was a long queue at the Conoil filling station in the same Alapere, while TotalEnergies in the axis was not seen to be dispensing fuel.

It was observed that many stations did not dispense fuel and this mounted pressure on the few ones where the product was available.

The NNPC station at Fadeyi did not sell petrol as of noon.

Our correspondent reports that NIPCO also recorded a long queue of vehicles waiting to get Premium Motor Spirit.

Also, there was a long queue at the AP fuel station in Onipanu.

The Mobil filling stations along Palmgrove, Alausa and Mile 2 did not open for PMS sale on Friday.

The NNPC, Mobil, TAS, NIPCO, Enyo, As-Salam and other filling stations along the Mowe-Ibafo route in Ogun State did not sell petrol too.

In the same vein, Capital and Enyo at Berger did not open to sell PMS as at the time of filing this report.

The Enyo filling station at Ojodu junction had long queues when our correspondent got there on Friday.

It was the same scenario at Eterna filling station along Oworonshoki, at Northwest along Oju-Elegba, TotalEnergies and MRS at Surulere.

The situation affected the number of commercial vehicles on the road on Friday.

At Mile 2, some young men engaged in black market sale of the product at N800 per litre.

Some commercial bike riders who spoke with our correspondent said they have been buying from the black marketers since Wednesday.

The PUNCH had reported that a number of filling stations did not sell fuel on Monday.

The National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, said on Monday that there was a little hiccup in the distribution of the product, expressing optimism that normalcy would be restored after the Easter break.

“Yes, I think there was a little infraction in supply. The Easter holiday from Friday to Monday also added to the situation. I think from Wednesday it will ease off.

“The holiday was almost four days off. It will have its effect. But I am sure by Wednesday it will start getting better. Though there was little problem with supply even before the holiday. There was a little hiccup in supply, the holiday added to it. I am sure I will start getting better after the holiday,” Fashola said on Monday.

However, our correspondent observed that the situation seemed to be getting worse four days after the Easter break.

The spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Olufemi Soneye, has yet to reply to an inquiry from our correspondent on the cause of long queues in filling stations.