Nigerians queue for fuel
2005-04-26 20:54
Lagos - Traffic in parts of central Lagos, Nigeria, ground to halt on Tuesday after tanker drivers launched an indefinite strike to protest the seizure of dozens of their trucks.
As fuel deliveries dried up, panic buying began among motorists and queues at petrol stations snarled traffic throughout the busy city centre.
"The tanker drivers are on strike in protest over the seizure of about 40 trucks the Lagos State government took for alleged illegal parking," said Elijah Okougbo, secretary general of the oil union Nupeng.
"Officials who seized the trucks are demanding a fine of 50 000 naira ($375) to secure the release of each of the impounded trucks. We have not got such money," he told AFP.
A spokesman for Lagos State said that the tankers were seized after several warnings to their drivers not to park on highways and bridges in Lagos.
"We have been on this issue for more than two years. They are are simply obdurate and unyielding. But a responsible government cannot allow such act of lawlessness to continue for too long," he explained.
But Okougbo said that neither the government, tanker owners nor fuel marketers have provided parking lots for the trucks.
"With the exception of American Mobil Oil and African Petroleum, the other major fuel marketers have not provided a single parking space."
"Tanker drivers have no other choice than to park in available spaces," said Okougbo.
"I do not know when the strike would end. We have written a formal letter to Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu to intervene in the matter."
"We are waiting for his reaction. For now, the strike continues," he added.
One motorist said that he spent more than 30 minutes to fill his car at a filling station in Oworonshoki district in the north of Lagos.
Meanwhile, the busy Awolowo Road in Lagos's Ikoyi Island business district was jammed solid.
- SAPA