…seal off another
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
14 April 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday ordered the free dispensing of petrol found to be hoarded in an underground tank of an affiliate station of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) located near Kubewa filling station along Kaduna road.
The DPR officials who went on a monitoring exercise of fuel supply situation in Abuja discovered that the station which lifted 40,000 liters on Tuesday was hoarding the product.
After investigations revealed that the station had hoarded about 5,200 litres in its underground tank, the officials ordered that the product be immediately dispensed free of charge to vehicles on queue.
The enforcement team which was led by the Director of DPR, Mr. Mordecai Ladan, also discovered other petrol stations along Kaduna Road which had diverted about 100, 000 litres of fuel which they loaded from NNPC depots on Tuesday.
At the Zen Hajad Limited (ZHL) Petrol station, Ladan discovered that although the manifest showed that the company lifted 60,000 litres of petrol, the product was never delivered to the station as the station was deserted with the security guard revealing that no product had been delivered in the last one month.
Ladan described the activities of some of the filling station operators as sabotage against the Federal government’s efforts to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products to Nigerians.
He said “From the manifest from the depot, this station on Tuesday, lifted about 60,000 litres of PMS as intervention for the crisis currently being faced. So as part of our monitoring activities we have come to confirm if the 60,000 litres was delivered but as you can see nothing of such.”
The DPR boss further noted that, “We are going to take action and seal the station and for every litre diverted, we are going to charge N200, and for 60,000 litres you multiply that.”
There was however, mild drama as the attendants and management of the adjoining station, Kubewa Oil Nigeria Limited, took to their heels, as the team advanced from the ZHL petrol station.
Their action led the DPR officials to seal off the station, explaining that the workers must have run away out of fear because they may be involved in diversion, hoarding or other forms.