From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The lingering fuel scarcity in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has literally turned some filling station managers and pump attendants into demi-gods. These people take advantage of the ugly situation to fleece customers, using distasteful methods.
The heavy downpour which led to severe flooding in Kogi, Niger, Anambra, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states was given as reason for the inability of tanker drivers to convey and dispense the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
Even before then, residents had gone through hell in search of petroleum products when marketers embarked on strike. The end of strike was greeted with a hike in price of petroleum products. The situation has worsened to the point where those in dire need of the product spend more than five hours in the queue while some spend nights in front of petrol stations.
Some petrol stations that ordinarily should open at 7am wait till 10am before reluctantly start selling petroleum products. And by that time, the queues would have become very long.
Touts, who mount gates connive with stationed security personnel, feed fat from the malaise. These saboteurs consistently distort the queue arrangement by creating special entrances for those who bribe them, a misnomer that sometimes resort to confusion, rush and bashing of cars.
Those with kegs and generators are shooed and treated like lepers. With their money in their pockets, they hardly get it. Even those who succeed after milling around for hours and begging, still pay between N500 and N1000 before accessing the product.
Another set of people who enjoy preferential treatment are petroleum hawkers or black market operators. They are friends to the managers and pump attendants.
They buy in motorcycles and offload into their kegs at nearby locations and return immediately to refill. In some cases, filling station management deliberately stop selling under the pretence that they have run out of stock, just to enable petroleum hawkers sell.
In addition, during scarcity, metres are adjusted to the detriment of buyers. A 25 litre jerry can that ordinarily gulps 29 litres of fuel, accommodates up to between 30 to 33 litres, forcing the buyer to pay more for less.
To cover their tracks, they have informants who hint them about when the Federal Government’s task force would be arriving to monitor the process. And as soon as they get intelligence, they put up a good behaviour.
Franklin Ubi, a civil servant, spoke on the manipulations by petroleum dealers. He said: “About two weeks ago, I was driving from Wuse to Mararaba, Nasarawa State. After spending about two hours on the queue, the seller told me to give him N500 before he would full my tank.
“I was dumbfounded. I asked him why and he said the instruction came from above. I have never seen this kind of thing in my life.
“The exploitation is too much. It is sad that even with your money, you cannot get fuel at ease without bribing either the security personnel or pump attendants.”
Mercy Egboigbe said that at Abuja petrol stations all animals are not equal. She said: “I have had terrible experiences with these pump attendants. But the one that stood out was when I was kept for extra 30 minutes because I questioned why they shove me aside and sold to somebody I came before.
“This person just drove in and after speaking with one of security officers, the barricade was removed, he speedily drove in. Even when he saw me, the attendants told me to wait. She said she needed to attend to the man before me.
“I had no choice because the scarcity was biting. But the incident brought tears to my eyes. You mean this kind of thing still happen in a country that prides itself as a religious and God-fearing country?”
Darlington Chidi, a phone repairer,
narrated his experience thus: “I panic whenever there is fuel scarcity. The frustration is unbearable. These people behave as if there is no tomorrow. They wear their toga of weakness.
“One fate day, I ran out of fuel. I drove to this particular station close to the Police Force Headquarters. I asked if they had a POS. The seller answered in the affirmative.
“When it was time to pay, he asked if he could add the charges. I asked him what charges. That was when he said that if I must use their POS, I must pay for the charges.
“I told the young man that we never had such an arrangement or agreement. Moreover, he never told me that was the practice. After much argument, I had to pay. But I vowed never to buy fuel there again. The extortion is annoying.”
But a pump attendant at Garki, precisely at Banex axis, who preferred anonymity, tried to justify his unruly unethical behaviour.
“Everybody wants to survive in Nigeria. So, when there is fuel scarcity, we use it to our advantage. We are not permitted to sell in jerry cans but customers will keep begging and forcing us to go against the rule.
“And nothing goes for nothing. They must pay something because if we are caught, they will not be there to defend or help us.
“Our salary is small. In fact, it is nothing to write home about. So, when opportunity presents itself for us to augment our income, we grab it,” he posited.