An acute shortage of petrol has continued in Jos, Plateau State and its environs, forcing motorists to pass nights on queues to ward off vandalism and theft of their vehicles.
Some of the motorists, including civil servants, said on Wednesday in Jos that they could not afford the black market option where a four-litre gallon of petrol sold at N1,500.
They said many of them passed the night in their vehicles following reports of vandalism and theft of vehicles left on the petrol queues at some stations in the metropolis.
Besides, some of them said they could not leave the stations, having been issued tallies indicating their positions on the queues for service whenever products arrived.
Daniel Shended, a businessman, however expressed regret that the product received by Mobil filling station on Yakubu Gowon Way was exhausted before it got to his turn on Tuesday.
According to him, “I have been sleeping in my vehicle for close to one week now, and the station received supply on Tuesday.
“However, owing to the long queue of vehicles at the station, the product did not get to me before the station stopped selling, claiming it has run dry.
“I am still on the queue, there is no other place to get the product at government controlled price; the black market is too expensive.“
Also at the Mobil station, Prince Pius, a commercial bus driver, said that following an information from a friend about the delivery of petrol at the station, he decided to pass the night there, to avoid pilfering of his vehicle.
A worker at the NNPC mega station on Murtala Muhammadu Way, who craved anonymity, said the station received two truckloads of petrol.
He said the station operated three separate queues, two for vehicles and one for tricycles.
The civil populace and uniformed personnel had separate lines.
The mega station sold at N86 per litre while the three Mobil stations at Terminus, Beach Road and Yakubu Gowon Way that had petrol on Tuesday sold at N86.50.
