A Nigerian man has accused a filling station of allegedly selling him air worth ₦35,000 instead of fuel, threatening to involve the police.
The incident was shared on X (formerly Twitter), where a video showed the man confronting the fuel attendant.
An X user Somto Okonkwo who identifies as #General_Somto shared the video with the caption, “Imagine Going To Buy Fuel And The Attendant Is Pumping Air Inside Your Car Tank.”
In the video, a voice can be heard saying, “You said you sold ₦35,000 worth of fuel to me, but my gauge hasn’t moved. How did you do that? Are you pumping air into my car?”
Demanding the presence of the station manager, he added, “We’re going to the police station today. You must explain this racket you’re running here. If I didn’t know better, would you have tried to deceive me this morning?”
The post quickly gained traction, with many users expressing their thoughts in the comment section.
Omo Ogedengbe who identifies as #leumas_mahni_og said, “I’ve explained this to people many times. There’s no way a nozzle will dispense air; it only happens if there’s no fuel in the tank at the fuel station. If your fuel isn’t complete, it could be because the litre might be tampered with, or your fuel gauge might be faulty.”
Ustin who tweets as #ust900 “This happened to us in 2003 on our way from Lagos to Ibadan. It was heartbreaking. Our vehicles got stuck in the middle of the bush miles after Redemptiom Camp.”
Young Pac who identifies as #richieedet said, #Most stations do so amd more reason I learn from mini bus drivers to use gallon to buy, which some will tell you that they don’t sell in gallon gbam na dem.”
“Be careful of this fuel attendants, especially if there is a bike or keke NAPEP in your front buying before you.This thieves will continue the sales from the previous sales. They don’t even care how people struggle to buy the costly fuel,” MrPiper who tweets anonymously as #piper_piper122 wrote.
Ethan Gideon who identifies as #EGideoon said, “Two things are involved. It’s either the fuel gauge malfunctioned or the attendant didn’t sell the fuel or sold very little. That pump nozzles don’t dispense air. Sometimes, you just need to drive the car a while before the gauge picks. When buying fuel just come down and monitor the meter”
Freeman who identifies as #freemanniceguy, claiming to have worked as an attendant, explained, “I have worked as an attendant before. I can say to you that most times some attendants don’t know the pump is not flowing steadily unless they study it. The reason is once the man hole (the tank underground) is getting finished like 500-1000 litre below.
“That tank underneath is same as 33000 trailer tank you see on the road. So, when it is so little, its pressure won’t be able to suck enough fuel to a vehicle. Now, as attendant, the nozzle will be seizing and continue. That’s when you know there’s no product in manholes.
“But even some attendants report this to superiors, they can ask you to keep selling because that one you are selling is mostly air and they account for product after deeping (putting a long ruler inside the man hole to know how many littes are remaining). Now if the attendant knows and still continues this, that means he has a share of the money. But most times, they don’t know.
“But in cases that you turn your head and see the metre above, what you think should be seen. Them Dan do u b that, sometimes they continue the sales of someone else on yours, sometimes It was not wiped before selling to you. Some will systematically hang the nozzle that the previous sales won’t wipe and once you drive in and didn’t meet anyone buying, you think all is well.
“To stop that, don’t be shy to tell every attendant to rub the meter off before selling to you.”
Click the link below to watch the video:
https://x.com/MobilePunch/status/1879984384813531365?t=xlGwjXDKC4qkRrh__9GyaQ&s=19