Fuel Scarcity: Tanker Drivers Return To Apapa

Following the reappearance of long queues at filling stations in Lagos State due to scarcity of petrol, petroleum tanker drivers have returned to the Apapa-Oshodi expressway in their quest to load product at the Apapa tank farms, leading to the resurgence of the dreaded traffic on the ever-busy expressway
The petroleum tankers had hitherto been sent parking from the expressway by the Lagos State Government because of indiscriminate parking and obstruction of smooth flow of traffic. But the tankers, last week occupied almost half of the expressway.

Following the reappearance of long queues at filling stations in Lagos State due to scarcity of petrol, petroleum tanker drivers have returned to the Apapa-Oshodi expressway in their quest to load product at the Apapa tank farms, leading to the resurgence of the dreaded traffic on the ever-busy expressway
The petroleum tankers had hitherto been sent parking from the expressway by the Lagos State Government because of indiscriminate parking and obstruction of smooth flow of traffic. But the tankers, last week occupied almost half of the expressway.
Shipping Position Daily correspondent who visited the area also noted that the same situation is obtainable along the Creek road end of the expressway in Apapa where petroleum tankers trying to load products at the Folawiyo tank farm practically blocked the entire access road into the Lagos Port Complex.
Some of the tankers were also spotted last week extending their parking to Warehouse road directly in front of the Sifax head office thereby blocking almost the entire road.
When asked about what the leadership of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) is doing to sensitize the drivers to prevent the traffic, Chairman of the SPG unit of the union, Comrade Ismaila Oshoku told our correspondent that the fault should be attributed to the fuel scarcity and not the drivers.
"Many of them come from far away; Enugu, Abuja and other parts to load here and the product is not even available as such, the little that is in the tank is being rationed" he said.
Comrade Oshoku who also doubles as the chairman of the NUPENG committee in charge of decongesting the Ibafon axis confessed that, "I have not gone home since Tuesday, just because of the situation here".
He explained that, "it is those tankers that want to load overnight that we allow to park on the express road, they will leave in the morning".