NUPENG Strike: Rivers residents, commuters groan over fuel scarcity

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Commuters and business owners are now going through tough times in Port Harcourt, Rivers state capital, following the industrial action embarked upon by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural gas (NUPENG), Petroleum Tanker Divers (PTD) Port Harcourt Unit.

The union commenced its strike Thursday last week in protest against the deplorable condition of the Port Harcourt Eleme-Onne federal road that is the only access road to the refineries and petrol tank farms near the state capital.
A make over of the road was done by Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, last year when the wife of the president, Mrs Patience Jonathan, buried her step mother in Okrika, her hometown, to allow easy passage for important dignitaries who attended the burial ceremony.

Tanker drivers blocked the refinery, depots and private tank farms in the state, making it impossible for dealers to buy from them.

The strike however has caused artificial scarcity and long queues in the few filling stations that have the products.

PM News which was at various petrol stations as early as 5:30 a.m. today found out that a litre of DPK now goes for N140 while a litre of petrol goes for N120 as against the usual N97.
Calamity: Another truck gives way on Eleme-Onne Ogoni road

Calamity: Another truck gives way on Eleme-Onne Ogoni road

Some drivers who spoke to our correspondent on their frustrations lamented that the products are not available at filling stations, noting that, the few stations selling petrol have long queues.

Cletus Nwato said the stations have begun to hoard the products preferring to sell to the black markets for higher profit.

Meanwhile, a tanker driver, Molekwu Obinna, recounted how a colleague lost 33,000 liters of fuel valued at N3.9 million on the road when his tanker fell and the products spilled off.

“On daily basis, our trucks get damaged”, he said, adding that, on more than one occasion, both products and vehicle go in flames as a result of the bad road”.

The Chairman of NUPENG, Port Harcourt, Godwin Eruba, said that the situation would remain as long as the Eleme-Onne road remains in such poor condition.

He said that the strike is also for the safety of both the tanker drivers and other road users because when a loaded tanker falls it spills it highly inflammable content causes losing of lives and property.

It would be recalled that the union, a fortnight ago, threatened to declare industrial action if Federal Government does not fix the bad road.

In a similar view, the youths of Eleme, in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers state also threatened few days ago that they would block entrance of the federal government owned Oil and Gas free zone.

Culled from pmnewsnigeria.com