Many patrol stations in Lagos State did not sell Premium Spirit (Fuel) today even as long queues surfaced in some areas of the state where some stations sold fuel.

NewsOrient learnt that the queues can be traced to a rumour that there is an imminent fuel scarcity. Our investigation shows that the rumour did not spread fast until late afternoon. As a result, while the queues had started in some areas of Lagos, filling stations in some areas were still selling normally.

 Our correspondent, who monitored the development in Iju area, Agege and Ikeja, reported that while many petrol stations in Ikeja were still selling normally as at 2pm yesterday, in the outskirts like Iju and towards Oke Aro, the border communities of Ogun State, the queues had become very long.

By evening and up to 8pm, the effect had become obvious in Ikeja as buses had increased their fare from Ikeja to agege by almost 100 percent.

Daily Trust has however reported that the scarcity “started a few days ago but it got worse between Sunday and Monday morning, forcing motorists to spend long hours at filling stations.”

As at press time, there was still controversy over the actual cause of the long queues. While some said it was due to an impending scarcity, others said there was supply disruption to Independent marketers in the state.