Christian Worshipers Defy Rules To Charge Phones In Church As Fuel crisis bites harder In Ibadan
The Oasis Reporters
April 15, 2019
To prevent phone theft, many churches in Ibadan, South West Nigeria have banned phone charging in church. Though a few churches have created charging bays under intense security watch since it was noticed that phone thieves invade churches under the pretext of coming to worship God.
However on Sunday, rather than come with palm fronds to signify Palm Sunday, worshippers appeared with electric extension boxes to charge phones and torch lights.
There has been lingering power failure in most parts of Ibadan, Oyo State and several parts of Ogun State in the Sango Otta neighborhood of Ijako, and large areas of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital city.
Power failure and fuel crisis has thrown much of Nigeria into pitch darkness.
The fuel crisis rocking Nigeria worsened with more marketers of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol shutting their gates against motorists. More filling stations in Lagos, however, took advantage of the situation yesterday.
On the entire stretch of Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, only the Oando Filling Station at U-Turn was seen selling the product during a survey by a a newspaper. The same situation was also observed at Iju-Fagba- Agege road in Lagos where none of the over 10 filling stations sold product yesterday.
The gates of all filling stations on College Road, Ogba, except Conoil, were shut yesterday. The fuel crisis has also spread to Delta, Rivers, Kwara, Ogun and Osun states. Queues of vehicles and kegs were at the Total filling station along the Warri – Sapele road, in Sapele while stations like Forte Oil, Mobil shut their gates for motorists. Panic buying also led to queues at filling stations in Ilorin, Kwara State. In Osun, motorists, commercial motorcyclists and other petrol users queued up on Sunday for petrol at filling stations that dispensed the product.
Conoil was however seen on Iwo Road in Ibadan, dispensing Premium motor spirit while other fuel stations in downtown Iwo Road remained under lock and key.
The same situation was observed in Ota and Abeokuta in Ogun State, where queues of vehicles and kegs were observed at filling stations that were selling petrol.
In Osun State, many petrol stations were not selling the product. A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who went round the Osun State capital, Osogbo, and its environs yesterday reports that many of the petrol stations were under lock and key. The few petrol stations selling the product had long queues of vehicles.
The statement credited to the Minister of state for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu that there was enough stock in strategic reserves seem not to have doused the panic buying as Nigerians recall similar statements in the past, before fuel pump increase in price.
Tayo Arowolo, a fuel attendant in one of the filling stations visited, said the scarcity of the product was as a result of inability of many of the Independent marketers to lift the product at the Lagos depot. Arowolo said most petrol stations in the state were hoarding the product and selling to motorists at a particular time while others stopped selling earlier than expected.
He said that if the situation was not urgently addressed, it would bring untold hardship on the people. Mr. Yusuf Ayinla, a motorist who was on the queue at Conoil Filling Station at Old Garage, Osogbo, said it was sad that petrol stations were hoarding the product, thereby creating artificial scarcity. Ayinla, however, implored the appropriate authorities to do the needful before things become more difficult for the common man.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), however, insisted that Nigerians should desist from panic buying as this is capable of boosting hoarding and profiteering by marketers.
Meanwhile advances in technology now enable Sweden to construct electrified roads that charge batteries.
Additional reporting : New Telegraph
