By Demola Akinyemi

ILORIN — The worsening fuel scarcity  nationwide claimed major casualties in Ilorin, weekend, as a commercial motorcyclist, popularly called Okada rider, and a taxi driver died while queueing for petrol at different filling stations.

The two incidences occurred  in different filling stations in the state capital.

Vanguard reliably gathered that the death of the commercial motorcyclist occurred as a result of an accident while on the queue on Saturday at Ogidi area of Ilorin where the deceased had gone to buy  fuel,while the  death of the taxi driver occurred at a different filling station.

Vanguard also gathered that the commercial motorcyclist whose identity could not be immediately ascertained was crushed by a tipper while trying to position himself on the queue.

He was said to have died instantly as a result of a broken skull and other fatal injuries he sustained from the accident, before his remains were evacuated by Policemen from Oloje Divisional Police station.

The death of the taxi driver, identified as Daddy Mustapha of Isale Banni area of Ilorin, was said to have occurred at a filling station where the deceased, who had been on the queue for several hours, was discovered dead shortly after buying fuel but could not  drive his vehicle out of the filling station.

Anxious motorists who  queued behind him for several hours were said to had approached him for delaying others only to discover that he was no longer breathing.

The deceased, it was gathered, had been buried according to Islamic rites.

Meanwhile,the lingering fuel scarcity has continued to take its toll on motorists who have been paying through their noses to get fuel.

Commuters  also trekked several  kilometres everyday to get to their destinations. The situation has also forced many motorists to abandon their vehicles while transporters have also hiked their fares depending on distance.

At the black market, a litre of petrol is being sold at the rate of N250 in the black market.