Fuel queues have resurfaced in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT and its environs four days after the suspension of the strike embarked upon by members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN.
The oil and gas workers embarked on the strike on Monday, December 16, 2014 to draw the attention of the government to the anti-labour practices by the major oil companies.
Residents of the FCT who trooped to major busstops to board vehicles to motor parks for trips to other parts of the country were stranded as taxi drivers queued at filling stations to buy fuel. Most of the filling stations in the City Centre and the satellite towns were shut.
The only few stations which dispensed products to motorists were jam-packed by anxious residents leading to queues stretching to the streets and roads. The development led to traffic snarl on the affected routes.
A taxi driver, Mr. Ikenna Obi, who runs the Wuse-Berger route in the Central Area District, said he was shocked to see fuel queues return to Abuja after the oil and gas workers had suspended their strike.
Obi said: “It was like a film to me when some filling stations refused to dispense fuel to customers on Monday for reasons they failed to disclose to us. I thought we have passed the era of recurring fuel scarcity at Christmas season. This practice is not good for our people, especially at this period of insecurity.
“Many people, both private and commercial vehicle owners now spend hours in filling stations to just buy fuel. We plead with whosoever is concerned to sheathe their sword and save Nigerians the problem of sleeping in filling stations to buy fuel.”
Another driver who plies Ahmadu Bello Expressway said he was left with no choice than to increase transport fare from the usual N50 to N70, and in some cases N100 to meet with the cost buying fuel from black marketers.
A fuel attendant at a Total filling station in Wuse, said that “we don’t even know the cause of the sudden fuel scarcity. It was on Friday morning that we got the good news that NUPENG and PENGASSAN have suspended their warning strike, resulting in the availability of the product, but suddenly on Monday, something happened that our ‘Ogas’ asked us not to sell the product to customers for reasons best known to them. I hope we will overcome it soon,” she said.
Some commuters told Nigerian Pilot that they were disappointed with the inability of government to resolve the industrial issues between the government and the labour unions.
Mrs. Ifeyinwa Nweke, a civil servant, whose office is located at Wuse 2, said she paid double of what she used to pay to work.
“This was apart from several hours that I stood at the bus stop in Kubwa waiting for a vehicle heading my way. The worst is that my brother just called me this morning (yesterday) that transport company operators have increased the fare to Owerri, this was apart from the normal Christmas transport fare increase. I wonder how Nigerians will celebrate this Christmas with this situation,” she lamented.
The oil and gas workers embarked on the strike on Monday, December 16, 2014 to draw the attention of the government to the anti-labour practices by the major oil companies.
Residents of the FCT who trooped to major busstops to board vehicles to motor parks for trips to other parts of the country were stranded as taxi drivers queued at filling stations to buy fuel. Most of the filling stations in the City Centre and the satellite towns were shut.
The only few stations which dispensed products to motorists were jam-packed by anxious residents leading to queues stretching to the streets and roads. The development led to traffic snarl on the affected routes.
A taxi driver, Mr. Ikenna Obi, who runs the Wuse-Berger route in the Central Area District, said he was shocked to see fuel queues return to Abuja after the oil and gas workers had suspended their strike.
Obi said: “It was like a film to me when some filling stations refused to dispense fuel to customers on Monday for reasons they failed to disclose to us. I thought we have passed the era of recurring fuel scarcity at Christmas season. This practice is not good for our people, especially at this period of insecurity.
“Many people, both private and commercial vehicle owners now spend hours in filling stations to just buy fuel. We plead with whosoever is concerned to sheathe their sword and save Nigerians the problem of sleeping in filling stations to buy fuel.”
Another driver who plies Ahmadu Bello Expressway said he was left with no choice than to increase transport fare from the usual N50 to N70, and in some cases N100 to meet with the cost buying fuel from black marketers.
A fuel attendant at a Total filling station in Wuse, said that “we don’t even know the cause of the sudden fuel scarcity. It was on Friday morning that we got the good news that NUPENG and PENGASSAN have suspended their warning strike, resulting in the availability of the product, but suddenly on Monday, something happened that our ‘Ogas’ asked us not to sell the product to customers for reasons best known to them. I hope we will overcome it soon,” she said.
Some commuters told Nigerian Pilot that they were disappointed with the inability of government to resolve the industrial issues between the government and the labour unions.
Mrs. Ifeyinwa Nweke, a civil servant, whose office is located at Wuse 2, said she paid double of what she used to pay to work.
“This was apart from several hours that I stood at the bus stop in Kubwa waiting for a vehicle heading my way. The worst is that my brother just called me this morning (yesterday) that transport company operators have increased the fare to Owerri, this was apart from the normal Christmas transport fare increase. I wonder how Nigerians will celebrate this Christmas with this situation,” she lamented.
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