Fuel scarcity: Marketers divert 140 trucks of fuel Jerrywright Ukwu 3 hours ago 30870 

 The current fuel scarcity bedeviling that nation might not be over anytime soon – An 

investigation has revealed that fuel marketers are diverting petrol meant for Nigerians to border 

towns – The marketers action has worsened the the fuel scarcity situation in Nigeria An 

investigation by the New Telegraph newspaper has revealed that over 140 truck-load 

amounting to about 4.62 million litres of  petrol meant for Lagos did not get to filling stations for 

which they were meant for. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Motorists quqeue for fuel at 

NNPC petrol station According to the report, petrol marketers have, in the last 10 days, 

diverted the volume, which was scheduled to be off-loaded petrol stations in Lagos and 

environs into border towns between Nigeria and Republic of Benin. READ ALSO: Fuel 

shortage will end next week – Kachikwu promises again The report also revealed that the truck-

load petrol in the last ten days landed in some suburb of Lagos and Ogun states in what a 

source described as “where the product can conveniently be sold at cost above the pump price 

without harassment from DPR or protest from motorists.” Checks by the New Telegraph 

revealed that the Loading schedules of all the major depots and seven indigenous depots in 

Apapa showed an average cumulative loading capacity of 200 trucks daily. But a major 

marketer who spoke on the condition of anonymity picked holes in the figures and said due to 

the shortfall in fuel importation by the NNPC,  “depots in Apapa are doing less than 100 due to 

shortage of product for thru put.” His words: ”Major marketers, except MRS, are doing their 

normal loading; no extra-loading, whereas the seven independents that are being used by 

NNPC for its thru put scheme, have instruction from the minister and GMD to be doing extra 

loading. “In all, we truck out about 100 tankers every day for the past 10 days out of which 

Lagos get a lager volume. ”The supply to Lagos in the last 10 days should have tremendously 

doused the scarcity in Lagos by now, if not for the on-going high-wired racketeering. ”Capital 

Oil and Aiteo have not loaded since Monday due to shortage of supply from the NNPC but this 

did not stop the loading and trucking out of 100 tanker daily. ”The situation at the Capital was 

noticed after an accident close to the facility in which three marketers were crushed to death by 

a tanker penultimate Thursday. ”Before this a protest had earlier been held by marketers with 

about 200 truck loading tickets at Capital Oil when NNPC allegedly directed that the depot 

should be loading trucks for it mega stations while the marketers’ loading pro-gramme should wait until when another vessel would arrive.”  

Ajilete and along the Sango-Ota- Idiroko road shows that petrol stations around the axis petrol 

in surplus. An independent marketer who spoke on the issue but refused to disclose his name 

said: ”We are in business my brother and truth of the matter is that we do not buy at the ex-

depot price in Apapa. ”Aside from this, motorists in Lagos are troublesome; they will not only 

refuse to buy above the pump price but also cause problems for any station that attempts to sell 

above the price. ”We have complained and nobody comes to our rescue. So, it makes more 

economic sense to buy at above ex-depot price with Lagos ticket and resell to another station 

which will be able to sell above the pump price-of course they are usually at Lagos and Ogun 

states’ suburbs and as far as border towns between Nigeria and Benin Republic,” he said. 

According to the NNPC’s petrol daily supply nationwide schedule, twenty one import vessels 

laden with a total volume of 844.1 million litres have been confirmed to arrive in the month of 

 Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Fuel scarcity in Nigeria Independent marketers 

petroleum products Nigeria NNPC lagos Petroleum marketers in Nigeria