23rd December, 2019
Photo NAN
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has sealed four filling stations in Zamfara state for committing various offences.
The Operations Controller of Gusau DPR Fields Office, Alhaji Ango Haruna disclosed this in Gusau on Monday while briefing newsmen after surveillance patrol on filling stations in the state.
He said the affected filling stations were penalised for offences ranging from selling above official pump price, operating without valid licences, violation of safety rules and under-dispensing of petroleum products to customers.
Haruna said, “out of the various filling stations visited today, we sealed four stations for various irregularities”.
“Those found operating without valid licences will remain sealed. They must renew their licences before we allow them to continue operating.
“For those stations selling above official government pump price, we charged them N100,000 per pump depending on the number of pumps in the station”, he said.
According to him, other filling stations found for under-dispensing and violation of safety rules would be charged depending on the gravity of their offences.
He said the department had intensified efforts to ensure surveillance on filling stations in the state in order to ensure petroleum marketers comply with government rules and regulations for the business.
“You know, we are in the yuletide period, there is an increase in the traffic volume on roads, we have to ensure that the fuel is provided to the general public as well as to avoid scarcity”, he said.
The Controller warned that the department would not fold its arms and allow fuel marketers to continue violating its rules and regulations.
He appealed for more support and cooperation from the people of the state to check the excesses of those unpatriotic marketers who are bent on causing artificial scarcity.