On Tuesday, in Badagry, Lagos, a scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, led to many residents being stranded as most public transportation in the area came to a halt.
An account by a NAN reporter who observed the situation revealed that numerous commuters, including workers and businesspersons, were waiting in vain at various bus stops due to the lack of available vehicles.
The scarcity resulted in a surge in transport costs, with petrol prices skyrocketing to as high as N1,000 per litre in the area. Consequently, transportation fares spiked from N800 to N1,500 for the route from Badagry to Mile 2.
At bustling bus stations like Aradagun, Mowo, and Agemowo in Badagry, crowds of people were seen struggling to secure seats in the scarce taxis and commercial buses.
Sharing his predicament, Mr. Johnson Afilaka, a resident of Badagry, recounted how he missed work on Monday due to the exorbitant transportation fares to Mile 2.
Expressing his frustration, he mentioned, “Today, we lined up for buses, but none arrived. The few taxis that did showed up hiked their prices significantly.”
Appealing for intervention, he added, “The government should assist us in Badagry by allocating some Lagos BRT buses to our area here.
Similarly, Mrs. Christiana Adigun, an employee of the National Population Commission (NPC), expressed her difficulty in commuting to work due to the scarcity of petrol for her car.
Despite being willing to purchase petrol at the inflated price of N1,000 per litre, she lamented the challenge of acquiring the product and the additional hurdle of securing transportation to her workplace.
In Badagry, only the NNPC fuel station at Aradagun and the Mobil fuel station were reportedly selling petrol at official prices of N568 and N610 per litre, respectively, as per NAN’s observations. On the other hand, independent marketers at other fuel stations were selling the product at rates between N950 and N1,000 per litre.
Sharing his ordeal, Mr. Friday Ajasa, a driver, disclosed that his vehicle had been queued at the NNPC Aradagun station since 7:00 a.m., without any success in obtaining petrol by noon.
Blaming both the government and local petrol marketers for the scarcity-driven price hikes, he highlighted the preference of significant fuel vendors in Badagry to cater to cross-border illegal dealers rather than the residents, impacting the availability for regular consumers.
Calling for oversight, Mrs. Funke Alabi, another motorist waiting at the Mobil filling station, urged security personnel to monitor the conduct of petrol station attendants in the area.
Ascribing the petrol shortage to the inadequacy of product supply at the NNPC tank farm, Alhaji Abdul-Ganiyu Adelani, Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers in Badagry, appealed to the NNPC to increase petrol availability in their tank farms to ensure seamless distribution to all fuel stations in Lagos and across Nigeria.