There is no doubt that some customers are having problems over the lingering shortage and even adulterated petrol all over the country.
But, while some filling stations are handling the precarious situations with utmost maturity and calmness, the managers of Amuf Petrol filling station at Magboro in Ogun State have elected to be on the other side by being arrogant to aggrieved customers who came to complain about the adulterated product bought from the station.
Narrating his ordeal, one of the victims of the adulterated fuel said, “The problem started on Monday, February 22, 2922, at about 7 am when I entered the filling station and discovered that the attendant who was to attend to me was majorly concentrating on the motorcyclists, popularly called Okada.
I approached her and asked why, but she sarcastically said she will soon attend to us as I was the second on the queue. Then I got down to see and inquire why she was holding calculator while dispensing fuel.
She said the fuel was being sold for M180/litre, but I asked why when the price indicator was N165/litre.
She responded by saying that she was acting on instructions from her management.
Having spent some minutes, I decided to purchase N3000 worth of fuel, giving me about 16.6 litres of fuel as against 20 litres at N150/litre.
I came back later to request to see the station managers after about 2 hours later, as my car stopped on the way and had to call a rewire who had to check and told me the fuel pump had gone bad on the account of the adulterated fuel I bought.
I even came back with the spoilt fuel pump but the man who claimed to be the manager completely denied that I bought fuel from the station.
Even after the lady attendant identified me he insisted that nobody had complained about their fuel since that morning and that I should get out of the place.
After trying to make him see reason that he was unnecessarily arrogant, he called another person, whom he claimed is the real manager.
The story was the same with display of arrogance and impunity.
The man told me there was nothing they could do and neither can I do anything since they have not agreed that I bought the fuel from their station.
When he saw some pictures were being taken, he said, nothing can happen and that there is no where I go that they will ever accept
Some people tried to advise them to be a little bit civil and sympathetic in their response, but they kept to their arrogant disposition.
Even as lam aware that some consumers of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are allegedly arresting workers and owners of filling stations over the sale of adulterated products that have reportedly affected their vehicles’ engines, I decided to keep my cool.
In fact, what I expected from them was a kind of sympathy and understanding since it’s been a general problem, but the action of the staff of the station will definitely affect patronage of their products, moving forward.“
It was gathered that in some areas and states, aggrieved customers were having problems with some stations and even suing the outlets and even arresting owners through the assistance of the police.
It was also learnt that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited might face litigation, especially if owners of filling stations find it difficult to manage the pressure from petrol users.
Speaking on the attacks on filling stations by motorists, the President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the situation grew worse last week Wednesday.He said, “There are customers who have problems with the products they bought and are suing our retail outlet owners. They are already arresting retail outlet owners and not the NNPC, but obviously, it will still get to them (NNPC) if we cannot resolve it.
“Right now a lot of arrests have been made. That is why we are concerned and always request that we should be taken along so as to get early information.“Retail outlet owners are being arrested now and this is because when the vehicles of customers get bad they will try to hold somebody accountable. And that is happening across the country.”Gillis-Harry, however, stated again that the matter would be addressed in about a week time, as the adulterated products had been identified and quarantined and would require time to be fully removed from tanks.Also speaking on the issue, the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, confirmed that workers at retail outlets were being arrested.He stated that about 20 filling stations in Port Harcourt had to close down due to the presence of adulterated petrol in their tanks.Ukadike said, “We set up a team to go round and check the stations that have already been contaminated and see how evacuation will take place. Some people unknowingly sold the product and it was discovered a little bit late.“I cannot give you all the filling stations affected now because the monitoring is still ongoing but I know in Port Harcourt we have reported about 15 or 20 stations. But we can’t mention their names due to safety reasons.”He added, “Commuters don’t want to know that you got the bad fuel from the NNPC, it is unexplainable to them. And some policemen take the issue out of hand, making arrests without thorough investigation.“In some stations, they (police) went there and packed everybody, including the pump attendants and managers and dumped them in the cell. This is what we are facing now.”
For Amuf filling station, one can only wish them luck giving the level of unprofessional behaviors of their managers at the station.
Speaking on the attacks on filling stations by motorists, the President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the situation grew worse last week Wednesday.He said, “There are customers who have problems with the products they bought and are suing our retail outlet owners. They are already arresting retail outlet owners and not the NNPC, but obviously, it will still get to them (NNPC) if we cannot resolve it.
“Right now a lot of arrests have been made. That is why we are concerned and always request that we should be taken along so as to get early information.“Retail outlet owners are being arrested now and this is because when the vehicles of customers get bad they will try to hold somebody accountable. And that is happening across the country.”Gillis-Harry, however, stated again that the matter would be addressed in about a week time, as the adulterated products had been identified and quarantined and would require time to be fully removed from tanks.Also speaking on the issue, the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, confirmed that workers at retail outlets were being arrested.He stated that about 20 filling stations in Port Harcourt had to close down due to the presence of adulterated petrol in their tanks.Ukadike said, “We set up a team to go round and check the stations that have already been contaminated and see how evacuation will take place. Some people unknowingly sold the product and it was discovered a little bit late.“I cannot give you all the filling stations affected now because the monitoring is still ongoing but I know in Port Harcourt we have reported about 15 or 20 stations. But we can’t mention their names due to safety reasons.”He added, “Commuters don’t want to know that you got the bad fuel from the NNPC, it is unexplainable to them. And some policemen take the issue out of hand, making arrests without thorough investigation.“In some stations, they (police) went there and packed everybody, including the pump attendants and managers and dumped them in the cell. This is what we are facing now.”
For Amuf filling station, one can only wish them luck giving the level of unprofessional behaviors of their managers at the station.
And who knows the reactions of the next victims?
