Residents Of Kaduna Seek Solace At Gas Stations
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, people of Kaduna have gone to gas stations as a last resort in their frantic hunt for money to meet their urgent requirements (NAN).
This development follows the lack of readily available cash in the Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) of the majority of the city’s banks, and it coincides with the closure of PoS operators for the same reason.
According to NAN checks, persons looking for cash visit gas stations where gasoline is dispensed to look for those who are paying with cash rather than an electronic transfer.
A deal is then established with people in need of money, who agree to pay for the gasoline by an electronic transfer from their account in exchange for the money, which they will subsequently get from the fuel buyer.
Individuals who were questioned at one of the gas stations said that the arrangement was welcomed by many people who had been experiencing extreme difficulty.
“I learned about this arrangement today and went to a gas station where gasoline was being dispensed. There, I spoke with a commercial bus driver, and he agreed to assist me.
We both decided that I should pay N7,000 via the station’s PoS, which I did, to cover the cost of his gasoline.
“When it was his time to get the gasoline, I handed him the N7,000 paper and got the money back from him; this was a huge relief for me since I didn’t have any cash on me.
The main problem, according to a local named Adamu Saleh, “is that not everything can be acquired via electronic transfer of money; there are certain necessities that can only be addressed with liquid cash.
Commercial vehicle drivers, he said, had been quite helpful in that area. He also commended them for not taking advantage of the circumstance to demand anything in return.
Mrs. Aisha Fika, a separate resident, said that before she was able to get liquid currency at a gas station, she had to accost three different persons.
I approached two individuals who informed me they had already been “booked” by others, but a third individual complied, she said.
Fika said that up until she learned about the gas station arrangement, all attempts to get cash by ATM or PoS had failed.
The difficulties with this arrangement, according to Aminu Lawan, a different resident, are the network service unpredictability and the wait period for your helper’s turn to get gasoline.
He remarked, “The network may sometimes let you down, or the person who can assist you may be far behind in the gasoline line; unless you are patient, you may end up becoming upset.”
