Chidi Nkwopara
30 July 2012, Sweetcrude, OWERRI—SCARCITY of petroleum of products has hit Imo State, following what some petroleum marketers called “the inability or unwillingness of petroleum tanker drivers to deliver the products to the sales outlets”.
Sweetcrude investigations revealed the signs of the looming scarcity were noticed last Friday but many motorists thought it was not going to be serious.
The situation, however, worsened yesterday as only one out of about seven filling stations along Egbu Road, Owerri, opened for business and was selling from only a single pump.
The Mega Station operated by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, close to Holy Ghost College, Owerri, experienced a chaotic queue as motorists struggled to make purchases.
The shortage of products equally hit majority of the filling stations along Aba Road, Okigwe Road, Port Harcourt Road and Orlu Road, even as the marketers claim “the end is not in sight for now”.
Commercial vehicle drivers and other motorists expressed worries over the scarcity, lamenting that it will adversely affect their business.
A marketer, who pleaded anonymity said: “This is Nigeria for you. People opt to flex muscles for every flimsy excuse. Tanker drivers have not delivered any petroleum product to my station in the past several days and I cannot say when this would end”.
Similarly, car owners and commuters appealed to the Federal Government to find immediate solution to the biting fuel scarcity.
