09/16/2000 08:39:00 ET Pumps go dry as Nigerian oilworkers strike bites

LAGOS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Many petrol pumps went dry in Nigeria"s commercial capital Lagos on Saturday, the third day of a strike for more pay by workers at oil marketing companies. Fuel-starved motorists flocked to outlets in the sprawling city at dawn to wait for petrol that would not come. "It is terrible, I have been here since 4.30 a.m. (0330 GMT) and still can"t get fuel to buy," one said. "I just hope they are not trying to force us to buy at black market rate and achieve the fuel price increase they have been clamouring," another motorist said. The few stations with petrol said they had last had fuel delivered three days ago. Oil tanker drivers had abandoned their trucks at fuel depots because of the strike. The workers have been demanding to be paid the new monthly minimum 7,500 naira ($71) minimum wage approved for federal civil servants last May by President Olusegun Obasanjo. On Thursday, they had defied a union leaders" directive to suspend the strike and allow negotiations with their employers. ($1-105.85 Nigerian Naira)

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 16, 2000