Don’t block roads to buy fuel, LASTMA warns motorists

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has warned motorists queuing up for fuel at different filling stations not to cause traffic congestion and hinder other road users.

A statement on Wednesday by the spokesperson for LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq, noted that the agency’s General Manager, Bolaji Oreagba, said this while deploying more officials to monitor traffic around filling stations, including other traffic-prone areas across the state.

Oreagba disclosed that the deployment became imperative following reports of long queues around filling stations caused by motorists parking indiscriminately and blocking roads while queuing up to buy fuel.

Less than 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu declared that “subsidy is gone,” the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, skyrocketed to N600 per litre from N195/l in many parts of the country.

The development equally triggered a 100 per cent hike in transport fares, while long queues resurfaced at fuel stations across Lagos, Abuja, Ilorin, Benin, Asaba, Port Harcourt, Kano, Makurdi and other major cities and urban areas.

This is as many fuel outlets shut down their facilities and refused to dispense fuel to motorists, further creating scarcity and sparking desperation and panic buying at the fuel stations that were opened to customers.

Speaking further, Oreagba expressed displeasure at the “disorderly behaviour” of some drivers, who queued up haphazardly around filling stations, disrupting the free flow of traffic.

He urged petrol attendants and marketers to ensure that products were sold in an orderly manner so as not to infringe on the rights of other road users.

The LASTMA boss said, “Buying fuel is not an excuse to block and impede traffic flow across the state.

“In as much as we want our roads to be free, we do not want fuel queues to constitute a burden for other road users across the state.”

He reiterated that efficient traffic management had remained crucial in the attainment of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s seamless multi-modal transportation system in Lagos.

He equally advised motorists, including members of the public, against unsafe fuel storage inside vehicles, homes, markets and workplaces.

“Landlords and tenants should shun inappropriate storage of fuel at homes and public places. Filling stations must equally avoid dispensing fuel in polythene bags to avoid scuffle that can spark off a fire incident,” Oreagba advised.

He maintained that the public needed to be cautioned against the possibility of a fire incident or explosion if there was a source of ignition, such as a naked flame or an electrical spark, near the stored petrol.