Niger Motorists Protest Non-availability Of CNG

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicle owners in Niger State have protested the unavailability of CNG, after converting their vehicles over three months ago.

They besieged the NNPC Mega Station in Minna, the state capital yesterday to protest unavailability of the product.

Some of those interviewed said they were told that the CNG dispensing machine at the station developed a fault but had been left unattended to, leaving them with CNG engines in the entire state capital with no alternative but to rely on the more expensive PMS.

One of the protesters, Mohammed Doko Saidu, questioned the rationale behind government championing the conversion to CNG without putting in place adequate facilities in states to meet the needs of motorists.

He said, “The frustrating aspect of all is that I just installed CNG, spending over a million naira, without single gas in Minna; hoping that it is going to be fixed today, it is going to be fixed tomorrow and up this moment, there is nothing.

“Nobody is saying anything, the station is just lying fallow. In short, I had to disconnect some of the cylinders Installed in my car because there is no gas, what kind of government are we in? It’s frustrating”.

Another CNG vehicle user, Engr. Israel Ogbonnaya, said vehicle owners with CNG engines were left with no other option than to stage a protest as several visits to the station for the reason behind the unavailability of the product yielded no tangible results.

“It is so discouraging, that for three months now, the CNG station at NNPC Minna has not functioned. Imagine that since January some people did conversion, they have not recovered their money” he added.

According to him the CNG dispensing machine broke down, yet nobody told them the real reason ” We have come here several times demanding answers from the management and nobody is talking”.

He said they were protesting to bring the attention of Nigerians and those in authority to the situation in Minna adding that “CNG is the brainchild of the President. He commissioned a committee to look into these scheme and these people are taking us for granted”.

LEADERSHIP however observed that the protest was very peaceful as the motorists called on the station’s management and concerned stakeholders to urgently address the situation and restore CNG supply.