Scarcity of petrol in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, has compelled managers of some filling stations to hire soldiers and policemen to control consumers who besieged their stations to buy the commodity.
Most filling stations in Ilorin last Monday ran out of stock, prompting queues to resurface at some of the few stations that were dispensing the product to consumers.
The state chairman, Independent Petroleum and Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr Rasheed Olopade, said supply to the Ilorin depots “is nearly zero.”
Olopade had raised an alarm that the state would soon run out of stock following the incessant damage on pipelines on the Ogbomoso-Ilorin lines by vandals.
The IPMAN boss said the Petroleum Product Pricing Marketing (PPMC) Company, a department of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had threatened to cut supply to the lines due to wastage until a solution was found to the problem.
Our correspondent, who monitored the situation in Ilorin on Wednesday, said consumers who besieged few filling stations dispensing the products leading to fracas in some places.
At Bluefield filing stations Ogidi, Ilorin, policemen attached to the station shot into the air before they could control the crowd.
Also at total filling stations Sango, Ilorin, soldiers were hired to maintain law and order following disturbances caused by consumers at the filling stations on Tuesday.
