Daniel Atori
Protesters on Sunday besieged the NNPC Mega Station in Minna, the Niger State over the unavailability of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for over three months.
The protesters told our Correspondents that over the past three months, despite the huge cost incurred in converting their vehicle engines from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to the more affordable and eco-friendly CNG they have not been able to get the product.
They said when they stormed the NNPC Mega Station along the Western Bypass axis that they are frustrated over the prolonged shortage.
Some of the protesters regretted that the development had defeated the purpose of converting their vehicles to CNG as a cost-saving measure.
Findings have it that a component of the CNG dispensing machine at the station developed a fault but had allegedly been left unattended to, leaving motorists with CNG engines in the entire state capital with no alternative but to rely on the more expensive PMS.
The persistent shortage has reportedly imposed additional financial burdens on vehicle owners, who now face increased transportation costs while struggling to keep their vehicles running.
One of the motorists, Engr. Israel Ogbonnaya, said vehicle owners with CNG engines are now left with no other option than to stage a protest as several visits to the station for answers had yielded nothing productive.
Accordingly, he said “It is so discouraging, that for three months now, the CNG station at NNPC Minna has not functioned. Imagine that since January some people did conversion, they have not recovered their money.
“The CNG broke down, nobody has spoken to us. We have come here several times demanding answers from the management and nobody is talking.
“So for now, we want to bring the attention of Nigerians and those in authority to the situation in Minna. CNG is the heartbeat of the President. He commissioned a committee to look into these scheme and these people are taking us for granted”.
While expressing his displeasure over the development, another protester, Mohammed Doko Saidu, wondered why Government championed the conversion to CNG without ensuring there were adequate facilities across States to meet the needs of motorists.
He said “the frustrating aspect of all is that I just installed CNG, spending over a million naira, without single gas in Minna; hoping that it is going to be fixed today, it is going to be fixed tomorrow and up this moment, there is nothing.
“Nobody is saying anything, the station is just lying fallow. In short, I had to disconnect some of the cylinders Installed in my car because there is no gas, what kind of government are we in? It’s frustrating”.
The protest, which was very peaceful, saw the motorists call on the station’s management and concerned stakeholders to urgently address the situation and restore CNG supply or risk another round of protest which would involve a much larger crowd of aggrieved motorists including commercial tricycle operators who run on CNG
The Manager of the NNPC Mega Station could not be reached for comments at press time, as attendants on duty declined to speak on behalf of Management.
