Fuel scarcity resurfacing in Lagos State over harassment of tanker drivers

Fuel scarcity is back in Lagos state as of Monday, November 21.

This is according to statements from residents who live in various areas of the state.

Nairametrics spoke to a few residents on Monday morning and discovered that following fuel scarcity in Lagos, Abuja and other states three weeks ago, long queues have resurfaced at fuel stations on the streets of Lagos.

On October 28, 2022, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), wrote to the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to complain about community youths under the name: Indigenous Unity Forum, who are harassing, intimidating and extorting money from petroleum tanker drivers and others plying the road.

Part of the letter read: “We are deeply constrained to bring to your urgent attention, the unwholesome activities of some criminal elements parading themselves along Lekki Free Trade Zone Road, Eleko Ibeju, Lekki, as community youths under the name of Indigenous Unity Forum, harassing, intimidating, and extorting money from every petroleum truck drivers, who are NUPENG/PTD members plying the road.

“We have no other obligation than to demand that your Excellency, as a matter of urgency, put a final stop to the unwholesome activities of these criminals and similar elements across the state, otherwise we would have no other option than to direct our members, for the sake of the safety of their lives and property, to stay off the entire Lagos State until sanity, law and order are restored.”

Residents’ statements: Mr. Uwaila Egbon told Nairametrics that over the weekend, he noticed a buildup of queues but did not pay any mind to it. However, he saw really long queues and crowds at fuel stations this morning during his commute to work between Ikosi-Ketu to the Arepo area of New Lagos.

Cynthia Osatohanmwen told Nairametrics that as of Monday morning, she paid more than her usual transportation fare rate of N300 from Obalende to Maryland. She said fuel scarcity is back in Lagos and this is affecting the commute of those without personal vehicles. She said:

“If this continues, many of the buses will be stuck in fuel queues and we will stand for hours just to get transportation to work. Some of us have to deal with queries from management for going late to work. All this wahala plus the normal traffic situation is just too much to deal with.”

Gabriel Kolawole told Nairametrics that there are fuel queues in Iju-shaga and fuel is sold at many fuel stations for N195. According to Kolawole, residents in the area are surprised to find that long queues are back and many do not know how to handle the budding crisis.

Jessica Inoni confirmed the fuel scarcity; she told Nairametrics that a Mobil fuel station in her residential area sells fuel for as high as N200 per litre. According to her, the scarcity is already making traders have to commute to sell their wares, to increase the prices of their goods. She said:

“The prices will keep increasing as the fuel scarcity lingers, that is another problem for the average Lagosian, especially those of us who are just managing with our meagre earnings. Why is fuel scarce again? It is too much. The government needs to do something.”

For the record: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently released the multidimensional poverty report. The report put Nigeria’s poverty index at 0.257, with about 133 million people being multidimensionally poor.

Factors such as healthcare, food insecurity, education, nutrition, and access to cooking fuel contributed the most to the national poverty index. According to the NBS, over half of the Nigerian populace is multidimensionally poor and deprived of cooking fuel.