23 December 2014, Abuja – Long queues of motorists looking for petrol resurfaced in Abuja on Monday, as hundreds of motorists besieged the few filling stations that sold the product.
This came a few days after the city experienced a round of fuel scarcity caused by oil workers’ strike.
Many filling stations were shut to customers without any explanation on why they were not selling.
Hundreds of motorists thronged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s mega station on the Zuba-Abuja Expressway in a bid to get fuel as most stations in the city centre and other satellite towns refused to sell.
An attendant at one of the stations around the National Hospital, Mr. Dauda Yusuf, told our correspondent that there was no scarcity of fuel but that marketers were seeking ways to exploit motorists.
He said, “There is nothing like fuel scarcity because the unions have called off the strike. The queues in town are as a result of the hoarding of the product by some marketers because of the season.
“You know that it is common for us to experience some form of scarcity, especially during the Christmas celebration. There is no fuel scarcity but just panic buying caused by hoarding of products by some of us.”
Last week Monday, oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers embarked on a strike, which was called-off after negotiations with the Federal Government on Friday.
The NNPC gave an assurance that it would ensure adequate distribution and sale of fuel to members of the public during the Yuletide.
– The Punch
