Fuel crisis: Tanker drivers call off strike in Lagos

Tanker drivers on Tuesday called off their four-day-old strike in Lagos after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation paid a fine of N2.7m to the Lagos State Government on their behalf to secure the release of their impounded trucks.

Skip to next paragraph

File
Tankers parked on a bridge.

The development was made known during a joint press briefing by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and the Tanker Drivers Association of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Lagos State Chapter.

The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, who spoke at the event, said N2.7m was paid as fines for the release of 27 trucks.

He said, “They paid. There was a cheque to that effect.”

Opeifa explained that the trucks were impounded at Toyota area of Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in compliance with the road traffic laws and with the rule of law.

He said, “Although seven of our personnel remain injured and two of our operational patrol vehicles remain damaged, we will not press charges nor seek redress, compensation or restitution in order not to prolong the avoidable discomfort to the general law abiding public.”

He also stated that LASTMA would continue to enforce the state’s traffic laws but stressed that members of the union should understand that they did not have the right to break the law.

The Secretary-General, NUPENG, Mr. Najeem Korodo, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the telephone, also confirmed that the NNPC had intervened in the matter and paid the fine.

The General Secretary, Tanker Drivers Association, Lagos State Chapter, Mr. Tayo Aboyeji, who was also at the briefing, confirmed the payment and added that members had been directed to resume lifting of fuel at the depots.

But before they called off the strike, the fuel scarcity had spread to Benin, the Edo State capital, crippling commercial activities there.

Our correspondent, who moved round city, observed that most of the major dealers and marketers stopped selling fuel in the city as news filtered into the town that the scarcity had affected Lagos and Abuja.

Reports of the scarcity had caused panic among motorists in the city who besieged the few filling stations that were selling the product as at Monday evening.

By Tuesday morning, only the NNPC Mega Station on Sapele Road was selling fuel in the whole of the area.

The rush for the product at the station by commercial motorcycle operators, taxi and bus drivers and other motorists had resulted in a long queue that stretched several kilometres.

The queue extended to several streets such as the High Court Road, Reservation Road, and the Sapele Road, causing a heavy traffic jam in the whole area.

The scarcity led to a sudden increase in transport fares in the city as some drivers raised the fares by about 250 per cent.

Several commuters were stranded the roads as only a few taxis and buses were operating while they charged fees considered outrageous.

At the black market, petrol was being sold at N185 per litre, up from the regular N65 per litre.

In Uyo, a new wave of fuel scarcity hit the Akwa Ibom State capital.

One of correspondents who went round the city on Tuesday observed long queues at some filling stations.

Over 200 vehicles were seen waiting for fuel on a queue at the NNPC Mega Station.

One of the motorists who spoke with The PUNCH said he had queued to buy fuel for over eight hours to no avail.

Commuters were made to pay more than 30 per cent of the normal transport fares by commercial vehicle operators.

A ride from the state Secretariat on commercial motorcycle, which usually attracted N50, went up to N80.

Contacted, an official of the Petroleum Products Monitoring Committee in the state blamed the scarcity on panic buying.

The fuel crisis also spread to Ibadan, Oyo State on Tuesday and residents of the city were stranded at most major bus stops within the metropolis forcing many workers and students to trek to their various destination.

One of our correspondents who went round the city observed that most filling stations on Ring Road, Mokola, Challenge, Bodija, Bashorun, Molete, Iwo Road, Agodi, Yemetu, Beere, Oja Oba, Oke Ado and the Apata area of the city were not dispensing fuel to motorists.

Commercial vehicle operators took advantage of the situation to increase fares by 50 per cent while owners of private cars abandoned them at home for lack of fuel.

Workers and school children who could not afford the exorbitant fares charged by operators of commercial motorcycles, embarked on long distance trekking to their destinations as early as 7.30am.

Long queues of vehicles and motorbikes were sighted in few stations dispensing fuel within the metropolis causing heavy traffic congestion in the affected areas.

A business woman, Miss Esther Oluwasola, said she left her home in the Akobo area of the city around 8.00am and could not get to her Bodija shop until 11.00am because commercial vehicles refused to ply her route.

The Head of the Soul Winning Ministries Lagos, Revd Moses Iloh, called for the immediate arrest of officials of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers for using strike to blackmail government.

He condemned of the PTD branch of NUPENG, for allegedly inciting the people against the state government.

He said, “It is ironical that while the Lagos State Government is working round the clock to ensure good and safe roads for public use; doing all that is possible to improve sanitary living conditions and security of life and property for the Lagos people, a group of blackmailing drivers are working to bring danger to the people. I personally believe that this is blackmail