Drivers of petroleum tankers especially those coming to load products from outside Lagos state last week lamented their travails while waiting for products at the depots saying that the situation is exposing them to many hazards.
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The tankers which come to petroleum products from virtually all parts of the country have been accused of illegal parking on the highway leading to Apapa area of Lagos since the scarcity became perennial, a development which has always hampered free movement of traffic along that route.
However, some of the drivers told Shipping Position Weekly that in the bid to get products, they sometimes spend more than 10 days on the queue, a situation which they described as exposing them to a lot of hazard.
One driver from Kaduna State told our correspondent last week that he has spent more than eight days on the long queue and that the journey back to Kaduna takes not less than three to four days depending on the condition of his truck.
He lamented that due to the exorbitant cost of renting a hotel in Lagos, they have no choice when it’s dark other than to sleep on the roads throughout the period of stay in Lagos.
While the pump price of petrol at filling stations in Lagos presently stands at an average of N85 per litre, a driver from Borno State who claimed to have spent five days in Lagos said that the product back home goes for as high as N120 per litre, and that the price increases progressively as the product goes further into the hinterland.
Similarly, another truck driver from Abuja who simply identified himself as Mr. Kadiri Sulaiman stated that the scarcity experienced at the federal capital is a replica of what obtains in Lagos.
Some of the drivers who pleaded anonymity told Shipping Position Weekly that each of them are made to part with at least N200 daily to miscreant popularly known as ‘area boys’.
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