A Lagos resident exposes fuel pump fraud at Eterna Filling Station, Aguda, Ogba, revealing how attendants manipulate sales

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]oday, 24 March 2025, during my morning run, I decided to refill my vehicle’s tank as I had been running on reserve since last night.

I drove to the Eterna Filling Station opposite GTBank in Afeez Bust Stop, Aguda, Ogba, and asked the attendant, a dark man with tribal marks (this description is important for easy recognition in case you are buying fuel from them), to sell ₦20,000 worth of fuel.

When he asked if I was paying by card or transfer, I told him I had cash.

He then requested that I open my tank, punched some buttons on the meter, and displayed ₦20,000 on the dispenser’s screen.

As he dispensed the fuel, I unconsciously kept an eye on the meter, expecting nothing unusual.

When the meter had sold over ₦11,000 worth of fuel, I turned to my wife for a quick discussion. By the time I looked back, I noticed the attendant had gone behind the meter, erased the reading, and punched in ₦20,000 again before stopping the sale.

At first, I thought he was about to sell another ₦20,000 worth of fuel to a customer waiting with a jerrycan.

Then, it suddenly dawned on me that he was trying to pass off the meter reading as my completed sale.

Shocked, I confronted him. Of course, he denied any wrongdoing, but I stood my ground.

I explained that I had been watching the meter until he sold over ₦11,000 worth of fuel.

How could it suddenly jump to ₦20,000 in a split second? Raising my voice, I demanded to see his manager.

Sensing that his scheme had been exposed, the attendant pressed a button, revealing that the last recorded sale before he stopped was over ₦14,000.

I insisted that he complete my sale, refusing to leave until I received my full fuel.

He claimed he was calculating the shortfall and then proceeded to dispense the remaining over ₦4,000 worth of fuel.

Before leaving, I advised him to be a better human being, stealing from others will never make anyone rich.

We often blame the government for everything, but we forget that we are the government in our own daily actions.

If our leaders are corrupt, are we any better?

Rtn. Victor Ojelabi

Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.