Fuel scarcity-Residents scoops fuel from fallen tankers

Motorists plying the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were stuck in a traffic jam that lasted for more than eight hours on Thursday after two tankers conveying petrol and black oil had a collision at the Asese end of the expressway. Both tankers spilled their contents on the road, which resulted in a gridlock after security agencies cordoned off the expressway.


The traffic, which started around 6am, initially impeded vehicular movement inward Ibadan. It, however, spilled to the other side of the road after impatient motorists began to drive against the trafficresidents, many of whom had 30-litre jerrycans, started scooping fuel from the fallen tankers.

There was almost a face-off between some youths and  some soldiers after the officers took the jerrycans of the residents and promised to assist in filling them up with fuel to maintain order. The 30-litre jerrycans were subsequently filled up by a man, who was working under the instruction of one of the military officers.

The residents, who were eagerly waiting to collect their fuel-filled kegs, got angry when the five jerrycans were taken into the military officers’ truck. The five 30-litre jerrycans were kept at the back of an OP MESA Sector 3 truck with number plate, Army NA 008 B02.

Some men and women, who arrived late to the crash scene, were observed by Punch scooping some black oil from a pothole into their containers. A resident, who did not identify himself, said that before the soldiers arrived, people had been scooping fuel without any hindrance. The manager of a filling station nearby also scooped many litres of fuel.”