Rivers state started its strike last Thursday
in protest against the deplorable condition
of the Port Harcourt Eleme-Onne federal
road, the only accessible road to the
refineries and petrol tank farms near the
state capital.
It was gathered that the last
time repairs were done on the road by the
Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA,
was when the wife of the president, Mrs
Patience Jonathan, buried her step
mother in her hometown in Okrika last
year.
To carry out their protest, 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.
File photo of fuel queue.
A check at various petrol stations in Port
Harcourt on Thursday, 9 October, 2014,
revealed that a litre of DPK now goes for
N140 while a litre of petrol goes for N120
as against the usual N97.
Some drivers, who spoke to newsmen on
their frustrations, lamented that the
products are not available at filling
stations, noting that, the few stations
selling petrol have long queues.
Cletus alleged that most of the
petrol stations have begun to hoard their
products preferring to sell to the black
markets for higher profit.
Speaking on the scarcity of fuel as a result
of the ongoing strike, the Chairman of
NUPENG in 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
that could cause loss of lives and
property.
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”.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for
Petroleum and Solid Minerals, Abia State,
Chief Don Ubani, has appealed to residents
of the state to exercise patience as efforts
were being intensified to resolve the cause
of the current fuel scarcity taking a toll on
the people.
According to a text message Ubani sent
to PUNCH, he said that “the cause of the
fuel scarcity was the strike action by
Petroleum Tanker Drivers in Eastern Zone
comprising Port Harcourt , Aba and Calabar.”
The commissioner added that the tanker
drivers were “protesting the poor state of
roads in the zone which has been affecting
their operations.”
He expressed confidence that “the matter
will soon be over as their grievance is being
looked into by the appropriate authority,”
while appealing to members of the public
to exercise patience.
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