Petrol scarcity has hit Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and the nation's commercial capital, Lagos, as long queues were noticed at some filling stations on Friday. When NEXT visited the NNPC MEGA station on Olusegun Obasanjo way in Abuja, both private and commercial motorists were seen struggling to fill their tanks. A petrol attendant who simply identified herself as Esther said "petrol tankers are on strike". In Lagos also, many motorists were seen in lines for fuel.
fire in the airway:
It was confusion on Friday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos as a fire outbreak at the eight floor of the terminal made hundreds of passengers and airport users scramble for safety.
The fire, which affected the equipment and control room of the airport, was noticed by witnesses at the airport around noon, and lasted for a few minutes before the arrival of the fire fighters from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
"We were standing here when we saw a thick smoke coming out of that room upstairs and we had to raise alarm so that people will evacuate this place before any harm is done," said Stephen, a traveler at the terminal.
According to this eyewitness, the incident necessitated a "mad rush" out of the airport terminal, as people hurried outside the airport in order not to be caught in the flame.
Movements in and out of the airport was however, highly restricted by the Aviation Security personnel of the airports authority, as they provided specific assistance to the team of fire fighters.
The situation was calmed within minutes, but Akin Olukunle, the public affairs manager of the airports authority had his phones switched off, and was not available at his office to respond to the press on the development.
Meanwhile, Supo Atobatele, the public affairs manager for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) disclosed that no harm was done to the equipment in the control room, adding that the prompt arrival of the fire fighters saved the day.
The spokesperson for the agency commended the arrival of the team and noted that the ambulance from the airports authority was in place should there any form of casualty.
"It is electrical spark from the distribution box in the equipment room. The spark did not affect our equipment. Flight operations were not affected. We are now on uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)," he said..
"It did not affect the tower from doing its job. Engineers from FAAN and NAMA are already working on it.''
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