Many commuters in Lagos were stranded at various bus-stops as fuel scarcity worsen with the few available buses taking advantage of the situation to hike transport fares by almost hundred percent.
Investigation showed that the shortage was first noticed on Saturday as some filling stations refused to sell the product on the outskirts of Lagos.
On Monday, the scarcity spread to the metropolis, with only a few major marketers selling, while the outlets of many independent marketers remained shut.
It was gathered that while a few major marketers had the product, most independent marketers-owned stations were closed.
At Conoil, opposite LASUTH, Ikeja, it was noticed that motorists were forced to part away with about N200 to N500 gate fee before fuel could be dispensed.
While several filling stations were shut, there were unusual long queues of vehicles at a few filling stations in Berger, Alausa, Ojodu, Ikoyi, Obalende and Victoria Island on Sunday evening and Monday morning trying to buy Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol.
The scarcity, according to our findings, is caused by increased demand for the product due to fears that the Federal Government may remove fuel subsidy soon.
The long queues at the filling stations which have been causing traffic in those locations seem to have persisted.
The Manager of one of the Enyo filling stations on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, who preferred anonymity, explained that his management decided to sell only N3,000 worth of fuel to each motorist on Sunday afternoon in order to manage the little fuel they have.
