Oil marketers in Abuja and neighbouring states of Niger, Nasarawa, and Kogi states has shut down their filling stations on Friday due to fears over the planned nationwide protest.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) learnt that retail outlets such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in Kubwa, Salbas Oil, Eterna, and Gegu Oil, stopped dispensing fuel along the Kubwa-Zuba expressway.
Oil marketers confirmed that filling stations in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, were also closed which brought about reappearance of fuel queues at outlets in some parts of Abuja, Niger and Nasarawa states.
In Lagos, several filling stations were shut down, creating fears of an impending fuel scarcity.
Some marketers attributed the closures to fuel unavailability, while others blamed the apprehension over the planned protest.
In Ogun State, the situation reached a crisis point as long queues formed at filling stations. In Magboro and Ibafo areas along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, vehicles, including motorcycles, cars, and buses, lined up chaotically for fuel.
At Quest Filling Station in Magboro, motorists struggled in a queue over a hundred meters long, with only one of three petrol pumps operational.
Saheed, a commercial bus driver heading to Ibadan, expressed frustration after spending over an hour in line. “I didn’t expect such a long queue,” he lamented. “My passengers are complaining, but there’s nothing I can do.” At NIPCO Filling Station in Magboro, diesel was priced at N1,200 per liter, while petrol cost N675 per liter, with four out of five petrol pumps operational.