The Petroleum Tanker Drivers, an arm of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, has urged Nigerians not to resort to panic buying of petroleum products.
Some filling stations have recorded a slight increase of buyers from Wednesday night till about mid-day on Thursday following the violence that erupted in Apapa, Lagos State over the killing of a container driver by a policeman.
The PTD’s National Chairman, Comrade Salimon Oladiti, said Nigerians need not panic as its members are not downing tools as a result of the unfortunate incident.
Oladiti, in a statement by the PTD’s National Public Relations Officer, Comrade Atanda Adebayo, said his men had merely stopped loading petroleum products in one of the petroleum depots close to the scene of the incident when the police started shooting sporadically in order to prevent the escalation of the crisis.
He said: “Our attention has been drawn to reports on the mayhem that took place in Apapa where one container driver was shot dead and the reaction of hoodlums who took advantage of the situation to burn down some banks in the area.”
Oladiti said contrary to speculation, none of its members was involved in the mayhem, adding that his men merely stopped loading petroleum products close to the scene of the incidence when police started shooting to scare away angry protesters.
The National Chairman therefore appealed for calm and asked his members to resume loading at all the facilities in the area in order to make the products available to Nigerians.
“Our members have since resumed loading hence there’s no need for panic buying of the petroleum products by Nigerians,” Oladiti further stated.