Lagos community where every street corner is a fuel depot

Some now sell petrol from the boot of their cars

Gboyega Adepitan, 33, is an ardent lover of news. A young executive at a fast-rising advertising agency in Ikeja, Lagos, he keeps track of latest information both on his smartphone and laptop computer regularly. The nature of his job also means he has to monitor news bulletins on leading radio and television stations in the city to know how clients’ adverts are fairing. As a result, the 10:00pm news on Channels Television, a respected news platform, is a daily ritual for him.

But on Monday, April 20, 2015, Adepitan almost broke down in panic. After leaving his Ikeja office at 8:30pm, he had calculated that in less than 30 minutes he would have arrived his new two-bedroom apartment on Anibaba Street, Ketu, where he had recently moved to from Onipanu, a sprawling suburb in the metropolis. He was wrong. Forty minutes after leaving Ikeja, the Ogun State-born Mass Communication graduate of the Lagos State University was still stuck in traffic at the Ojota end of the popular Ikorodu Road. By the time he finally got home at 9:40pm, a bigger challenge awaited him. There was no electricity supply in the neighbourhood, no fuel in his generator and he had not remembered to buy petrol from any of the filling stations still open along his way. The three filling stations in the axis close around 9:00pm. There were important adverts on the 10:00pm news bulletin on the popular television station Adepitan must monitor and make report on the next day at the office. Time was ticking away and frustration was gradually setting in. The only option: suck up some fuel from his car to power the generator. To do that, he needed a hose. The 33-year-old approached one of his new neighbours for help. But the ensuing conversation changed everything. Just one phone call from the neighbour and there was enough fuel to power Adepitan’s generator for days.

Home delivery made easy

“It was one of the biggest surprises I have seen in my life,” the young man told our correspondent who chatted him up after hearing him narrate the experience to a friend at a drinking joint in the area last Sunday during a top English Premiership match between Arsenal and Chelsea. “My neighbour made a phone call that night and a man brought 10 litres of petrol to our compound. The man came less than 15 minutes after my neighbour called him. As much as I was happy to finally have fuel to watch news and monitor adverts on TV that night, I was shocked because I never believed there was a place in this country where you could order for petrol on the phone and at that time of the day. My brother, I am still surprised,” he said.

Even though still amazed at the funny discovery within his new neighbourhood, Adepitan is now a regular user of this mode of service. Most of the fuel consumed by his generator since that period has come through this rare channel. He told our correspondent how he no longer fears missing any news bulletin he must monitor on television no matter the time of the day.

“After that night, my neighbour gave me the fuel man’s number. I have never had to worry about fuel for my generator since that time even if I return from work by 10:00pm. Once I call him, the fuel would be delivered to my house in no time. He has never disappointed me and takes the burden of going to the filling station off me,” the 33-year-old said, beaming with smiles as he sipped beer.

Adepitan and his new neighbours are not the only ones enjoying fuel home delivery service at this Lagos suburb – it is a system many across the neighbourhood know about and have been utilising for several months as a result of makeshift ‘filling stations’ that now litter the neighbourhood.

Benefits galore

On another part of Anibaba Street, a barber, Fatai Lawal, who runs his business in a small kiosk, told our correspondent that he only goes to the filling station to buy fuel occasionally especially on Sundays when his supplier decides to rest for the week after servicing many clients like him. According to Lawal, the man who delivers petrol to his shop sells five litres for N450, N15 more than what obtains at the filling station where it is officially sold for N87 per litre. But the barber is able to save N150 extra by patronising his customer. At the filling station, fuel attendants would mandate him to pay N50 as levy for bringing a keg while he would have spent N100 to board a bike to and from the place. Additionally, the five litres from his customer come with added benefits. He could get half a litre as bonus and even more depending on what business has been like on a particular day for the man who supplies him. Also, the man who delivers the fuel to his shop helps pour it into the generator as part of his client service. For those very loyal to him and whom he has built a very special relationship with, he could supply fuel on credit. To customers like Lawal, these factors combine to keep their loyalty intact even though a filling station is a trekking distance from his shop if he decides to go by foot.

“I cannot remember the last time I bought fuel from the filling station,” the lanky barber began. “Since I discovered the guy who supplies people petrol here, I realised it was a waste of time going to the filling station where the attendants would also extort N50 from me.

“The fuel man gives me extra petrol on many occasions especially on days he also bought it at a good price from his source. On such days, he would be so happy and wants to also make you happy as a customer. Apart from that, normally he would turn the fuel you ordered for into your generator and also help start it if you want. For this reason, a lot of people choose to buy from him rather than go to the filling station. I am very comfortable patronising him. I really love his service,” he said.

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Amazing customer base

There are at least 30 residential buildings on Anibaba Street. On the average, the fuel man has a ‘customer’ on each of the houses. But his customer base is far higher in nearby Oduntan Street where over 60 houses compete for space. Here, he commands a patronage of at least one customer on each building, according to findings by our correspondent. This is apart from the handful more shop owners and commercial motorcyclists who turn to his services regularly. Across the area, the light-complexioned fuel man is a known face – morning and night, the people besiege him with orders. He laughs all the way to the bank.

“Call him around 10:00pm, he would bring you fuel. How many filling stations are open at that time in Ketu or how many traders can supply orders to your home at that time of the day?,” asked Salam Oladunni, owner of a football viewing centre on Oduntan Street. The guy is very reliable and serious with his business; that is why I personally patronise him. Even if you tell him to come back for his money after supplying the fuel, he would not grumble. In fact, place another order after that one; he would bring it again even if you still don’t have the cash at that time to pay. Once he trusts you and knows that you would surely settle him, he has no problem bringing fuel to you. His system is very convenient for me,” he said.

The genesis

According to findings by our correspondent, the fuel man who established the first makeshift ‘fuel depot’ in the area and has been operating for about two years now, first started at a corner of the fence of the Junior Secondary wing of Ajibola Aiyedere High School on Anibaba Street when the MRS filling station that served the entire neighbourhood was closed down temporarily. The difficulty of going to Ikosi and Ile-Ile bus stop to buy fuel at Total and General filling stations respectively became a huge burden for many residents and shop owners who need electricity to attend to domestic and business needs every day. The establishment of a make-shift fuel depot in the neighbourhood was the relief many wished for and had greatly looked forward to. Before long, words spread. It was a dawn like never before for the fuel man who soon moved to a corner of the intersection linking Anibaba and Oduntan Street for more visibility.

Hide and seek tactics

However, regular harassments from police patrol teams and street urchins popularly known as Area Boys soon forced him to relocate to Omojuwa Street where he has since been clandestinely operating from. His kegs of petrol are hidden in gutters and coded corners to further disguise his trade. But once an order comes in, he quickly arranges for the fuel requested before hopping on the nearest bike to deliver it. As part of security measures adopted, our correspondent discovered that the fuel man has since relocated his wife and children to the Mowe area of Ogun State. He comes into Ketu very early everyday to service his ever growing customer base.

Last weekend, at Oladunni’s viewing centre where our correspondent came across him, the fuel man gave a pointer to what business has been like and reasons why he had to move his family to the Ogun community.

“Chairman, your face scarce o,” our correspondent said in Pidgin English, trying to force out some vital information from him without suspicion. “E don tey I see you for this area. E be like say you no even dey this area again,” our correspondent asked further. “I dey bros,” the man replied. “Na police and area boys no let person rest. Na Omojuwa side I dey now, even sef I don comot for Ketu pack go Mowe. You know say for this our work, person need to dey coded. Even now sef because of the way police dey disturb us, e get the kind of order wey I dey check well before I answer. If person no do like that, man fit go enter trap one day. Now, I dey only enter Oduntan and Anibaba when customers call me. Na the only way wey person fit take protect himself be dat these days,” he said in distorted Pidgin.

Boom time for all

Interestingly, this fuel man is not the only one who now operates a makeshift ‘petrol depot’ in the neighbourhood and supplies gallons of petrol to homes and shops in Anibaba and Oduntan streets in Ketu – three others have also come into the picture following the success of the pioneer and also its lucrative nature. Though, the three do not get as much orders as the first man, they also control a sizeable customer base from their operational units. One attends to customers inside a compound housing a one storey building on nearby Segun Salau Street, the other operates from the compound of a two-storey building on Quadry Street while another is stationed at the corner of a fence around a mechanic workshop at the main entrance leading into Oduntan Street. For them, everyday is boom time. Morning, afternoon, night, there is a steady flow of demand.

Following constant power outage in most parts of Ketu and Mile 12 coupled with sparse supply of filling stations and their early closure in the area, make-shift fuel depots like the ones operated in Segun Salau, Oduntan and Omojuwa Streets are now a common feature across most street corners in the locality including at the nearby Ikosi area. From little tables to middle-sized kiosks, mechanic workshops to okada parks and even to open corners at the popular Mile 12 market, mobile fuel merchants who deliver the commodity at your doorstep at just a phone dial, now flood the landscape. Operators of these illicit businesses adopt all forms of disguise techniques to get attention off them. It is among reasons why many of them are stationed very close to mechanic workshops, vulcanisers, okada parks, lotto kiosks and markets in the community. Some even stuff the product at the boot of their vehicles at street corners from where they attend to customers.

Chilling discoveries

Though, the few who our correspondent interacted with refused to fall for the various tactics used to find out the source of their supplies, a taxi driver at Kosofe bus stop who claims to live at the Ajelogo area of Mile 12, told our correspondent that many of those in the mobile petrol business in Ketu and Mile 12 get the product from Agiliti, a small town west of the Maidan River. The area is a riverine community linking other coastal towns in Owode, Ajegunle and parts of Ikorodu. Others, he said, got their supplies from Majidun, Igbo-Olomu and Ebutte areas of Ikorodu – communities notorious for pipeline vandalism and oil theft.

“Many of the black market petrol sellers in Ketu and Mile 12 get their stock from Phase 2 in Agiliti. They usually go through Maidan to access the place. It is very close to Magodo.

“Some buy and resell at the spot while others simply go to sell at streets to make more profit. At the source, a 50-litre keg is usually sold between N2, 500 and N3, 000 for those who would resell while for ordinary users and drivers like us, they sell that same quantity for N3, 500.

“But at Igbo-Olomu which I think is the main place where black market petrol is sold for both ordinary users and resellers, the price is cheaper. I don’t know the exact amount they sell 50 litres there but I am aware that it is cheaper than at Phase 2 in Agiliti,” the taxi driver revealed.

Last Monday, through the help of a local bone setter at Maidan, our correspondent was able to locate one of the take off points used by the suppliers to distribute stolen oil across the axis. More than four local boats were seen by our correspondent moving several 50-litre kegs on the river towards Agiliti. According to the native bone doctor, such movements occur round the clock.

“Anytime of the day you come here, you would see these young men moving kegs of petrol in small boats. We have tried to challenge them in the past but we were attacked. As a result of that, everybody decided to keep quiet for their safety. The police cannot claim to be unaware of this situation. I have not seen any concrete step they have taken to stop these guys from their illegal business,” he said.

Deadly consequences

Apart from the hazard the constant spillage of the petrol moved by boat appears to have done to aquatic life on the Maidan River, the rise and growth of the illegal street corner fuel business in Ketu and Mile 12 has also led to catastrophic consequences.

On March 13, 2015, a section of the Mile 12 market was gutted by fire after drums of petrol and kerosene stored indiscriminately by traders went up in flames following a power surge that dropped a life electric cable on one of the drums. Three persons died in the tragedy while several others were left badly injured. Over 20 fully-stocked shops also went down with the flame.

Business unusual

Though, indiscriminate sale of fuel in the open market has been curtailed for now following regular police raids and scarcity in supply, a specialist in sewing machine repairs in the place, Samuel Oladeji, told Saturday PUNCH that the petrol cartel are still in operation but now using the delivery service method. He revealed that he had indeed ordered for fuel through his phone but had to book well ahead as a result of the high demand for the commodity in the expansive market.

“There is no day that I don’t buy petrol of at least N1, 000 for use both in my shop and at home. I don’t go to the filling station, I just call my customer ahead and he delivers it to my shop by afternoon. He has never failed me.

“The Hausa guys in the business adopted this strategy shortly after the fire incident in the market in March. They cannot sell petrol openly for now like in the past because the fire incident is still fresh and police come in regularly to monitor the area. Also, the scarcity of the product is getting at them. So, to stay in business, they devised this new system to service their customers. But you have to call early to book for fuel or else you might not get any,” Oladeji told our correspondent.

A ruthless monster

On February 4, 2015, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation through its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said attacks on its pipelines and oil installations were adversely affecting the nation’s economy and that the country loses billions of naira daily as a result of the problem.

On March 3, 2015, Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, said Nigeria was losing an estimated N1.18bn daily to theft of around 100, 000 barrels of crude oil. Annually, Jibrin said the amount was N433.62bn even though the Federal Ministry of Finance had earlier put the volume of crude stolen daily to around 400, 000 barrels.

Deputy Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, Mr. Leo Atakpu, told Saturday PUNCH that the ugly trend of makeshift ‘fuel depot’ in street corners portends grave danger for the environment if not quickly curbed. He wants the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to be more proactive in tackling this problem.

“The establishment of this type of fuel markets is an ugly trend that portends grave danger for the environment. The mode of refining leaves in its trail, air, water pollution while soil is degraded for both flora and fauna. Gas is also flared, emitting carbon to the atmosphere which exacerbates climate change.

“Another danger is that the trend of petrol being sold in street corners could lead to fire outbreaks which could in turn lead to loss of lives and properties and catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.

“The thieves operate because the government allows them. We hope the incoming administration would route the perpetrators. Law enforcement agencies should swing into action and arrest perpetrators and make them face the law,” he said.

Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Kenneth Nwosu, told Saturday PUNCH that the police have been working tirelessly to tackle illegal petrol sale in the city but that some fundamental issues need to be addressed for the war to be finally won.

“The police have never taken a break from tackling the evil of oil theft and pipeline vandalism. Not too long ago, some of our officers were killed in Owutu area of Ikorodu when they went to flush out these criminals. We have a special unit that deals with issues like this, so you can see what the police are doing as far as this issue is concerned.

“However, for us to finally overcome this scourge, there are fundamental things that need to be addressed. What are the factors fuelling oil theft and illegal petrol business, who are those responsible for it? There are several key issues that need to be looked into before even talking about the role of the police.

“We are fully committed to arresting crime in Lagos. Our officers are well trained and have the capacity to tackle the situation but then it is a collective fight. The public must also supply us with useful information to achieve our goals,” he said.

While the police and other law enforcement agents intensify their battle

with oil thieves in Lagos, the war on illegal petrol sale could take longer than expected to win especially with more makeshift ‘fuel depots’ now springing across Ketu, Mile 12 and Ikosi area of the city on daily basis.