By Correspondent in Lokoja.
Fuel attendants in Lokoja, on Saturday, demanded bribe from motorists and other users of fuel before selling the product at exorbitant price, as the scarcity of the product bites harder in the area,The Reporters reports.
Our Correspondent who visited filling stations in 500 unit road up to Ganaja village as well as Ganaja junction, reports that many filling stations were locked, even though sources claimed some of them had the product.
Fuel attendants at few stations that had the product capitalised on the scarcity to demand for N200 bribe and above from motorists, depending on the quantity before selling at N250 and above per litre instead of the official pump price of N165 per litre.
Abdullahi Mohammed, told the online publication that for him to buy a fuel of N1,000, he was forced to bribe fuel attendant with N200, adding that other buyers bribed higher than his amount.
Some of the motorists caught in the cobweb of bribery at such stations told our Correspondent that they had no option than succumb to such illegal action because they needed fuel, urgently, to put their vehicles on road and carry out other social and economic activities.
Richard Olanrewaju, one of the victims, said he needed to take his ecpectant wife to the hospital for delivery, adding that in such circumstance and for the fact that he had no fuel in his car, he had to bribe his way to buy fuel to accomplish his mission.
“Do I really have option, given the precarious situation I found myself, than give bribe them and get what I want at that material time because life is involved,” he said.
Olarenwaju,however,urged the federal government to keep its promise of flooding the country with fuel next week as a natural way of stopping the illegal activity and check exorbitant sale of fuel above the official price.
“With fuel in abundance, it becomes impossible for the attendants to demand for bribe before selling the product to the public among other advantages,” he stressed.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
