The
Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, on Wednesday sealed three filling
stations in Ibeju-Lekki and Epe in Lagos State for allegedly hoarding and
selling fuel
above the approved pump price.
Igheghe
Abel, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Department, who led the team, told the
News Agency of Nigeria that two filling stations were sealed in Epe and one in
Ibeju-Lekki.
Mr. Abel
said the stations were sealed for hoarding of products and selling petrol at
N170 per litre which is above the official pump price.
He accused
TAS Nigeria Ltd in Epe of hoarding over 12,000 litres of petrol as at the time
the DPR team visited the station, claiming its generator was faulty.
“But we got
information from motorists that they were selling at N170 per litre. When they
got the wind that DPR was around, they stopped selling.
“We have
summoned them to our office in Lagos to come and tell the management why they
are hoarding and selling above the official price.
“The T.Tab
Global Merchant in Epe pretended that it did not have the stock because nobody
was around to answer us, but the motorists confirmed that it stopped selling
because of our presence.
“We have
sealed the station as well, the dealer has been invited to our office,” he
said.
Meanwhile,
the petrol attendants at the two stations told NAN that their generating sets
were faulty.
Abel said
the attendants in NIPCO filling station at Kilometre 32, Ibeju-Lekki were
selling petrol at N170 per litre when the team got to the station. It was,
therefore, sealed.
The dealer
of the station who identified himself as a monarch of a community said he
bought the product from a third party depot at N165 per litre.
“I don’t
think what I am doing is bad, my people need the product, sealing the station
cannot help us,” he said.
NAN reports
that some filling stations along Ibeju-Lekki Epe Road were without products.
At PSG
filling station along Epe Road, Austin Ibe, the operation manager, said the
station had been out of stock since November 14.
“We cannot
afford to buy at the depots because they are not selling at ex-depot price of
N133.28 per litre.
“If we now
decide to buy and sell above the pump price, DPR will seal the station.
“This is the
second month that we have been sleeping here. Government should help us so that
the product can circulate,” he said. (NAN)
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