Uche Usim, Abuja
Queues created by panic buying are gradually returning to filling stations in Abuja as tanker drivers have suspended the lifting of petroleum products due to fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic that has forced the country into a partial lockdown.
Checks by Sunday Sun reveal that some stations are running out of supplies and there are no tanker drivers to restock them.
The situation has forced consumers to flood filling stations with jerrycans of different sizes to stockpile petrol in the event the real scarcity hits them.
Mr Yusuf Othman, the National President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), an umbrella organization of all commercial transport owners in the country, had directed tanker drivers to keep away from the depots and stay at home with effect from Friday, March 27, 2020 pending when the pestilence is brought under control.