Queues Resurface As Fuel Scarcity Hits Rivers

Long queues have returned to filling stations in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital and its environs, following alleged scarcity of petroleum products.

LEADERSHIP observed that the only a few stations are open selling the product, but mostly to customers with jerry cans while the rest are closed.

There are also suspicions that most of the stations that are not open have the products, but decided to hoard them.

However, the cause of the petrol scarcity in the state, has remained a mystery to both residents and motorists in the state.

Speaking on the development, the zonal chairman of the Petrol Station Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROOAN), Sunny Nkpe, said the seeming scarcity was difficult to understand.

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Nkpe, who stated that the association is investigating the cause of scarcity of petroleum products in its outlets in the state, called for calm from members of the public.

Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has said there are hiccups in the distribution of petroleum products across the country.

Speaking to reporters in Port Harcourt, IPMAN secretary in the state, Chibuike Ozor Ejike, warned residents of the state against panic-buying of petrol.

Ejike said, “Nobody should go into panic-buying or hoarding of petroleum products because of one threat or the other. There is just a small hiccup from Lagos, probably outside Lagos.

“You know we are import-dependent; we import all our products; we are no longer refining. When these vessels get to Lagos, they distribute it across Nigeria for onward trucking.

“So, for whatever reason, there is a little hiccup in the distribution and it has adversely affected the volume. It is not only in Rivers State. We know government is expediting action to ensure quick supply so that it doesn’t cut off completely,” he said.