Nigerians troop to filling stations in search of cash, make deal with customers

There is a new way of getting the much-sought-after cash now in Nigeria.

A report by the News Agency of Nigeria states that residents of Kaduna State have turned to petrol stations for help in their desperate search for cash to satisfy pressing needs.

The new arrangement became necessary as the cash scarcity bites harder and ATMs and Point of Sale (PoS) Operators ran out of the new naira notes.

Checks reveal that those needing cash would troop to filling stations dispensing fuel hunting for customers paying with cash instead of electronic transfer.

The cash hunters would then strike a deal with petrol station customers to swap the cash for electronic transfer. A Respondent known as Adamu described to NAN that he got wind of the new method from transport operators who do it.

Adamu said: “I got wind of this arrangement today and went to a petrol station dispensing fuel, talked to a commercial bus driver, and he accepted to help me.

“We agreed that I should pay N7,000, through the station’s PoS, being the cost of his fuel, which I did. “When it was his turn to be dispensed of the fuel, I presented the N7,000 slip, and collected the cash from him in return; it was a big relief to me as I had no money on me.

“The major challenge is that it is not everything that can be purchased through electronic transfer of money; there are some needs that can only be satisfied using liquid cash”, said Adamu Saleh, a resident.”

According to him, commercial vehicle operators divulged the secrets to him, praising them for not taking advantage of the situation to exploit people.

Another resident, Aisha Fika, said she accosted three customers at petrol stations before getting the cash.

She said: “I accosted two people who told me they had already been ‘booked’ by others, but a third person obliged.” She said before he got wind of the new method, she roamed several ATMs and PoS operators in search of cash to no avail.

But another resident, Aminu Lawan, stated that the challenge with the arrangement is the uncertainty of bank networks and the amount of time spent waiting for confirmation.

Lawan stated: “Sometimes, the network can disappoint, or the person to help you is far behind in the petrol queue; except you are patient, you may get frustrated.”