DPR seals 6 petrol stations in Warri

DPR seals 6 petrol stations in Warri

DPR seals 6 petrol stations in Warri

The Department of Petroleum Resources
(DPR), Warri Zonal Office, on
Wednesday sealed six petrol stations in
Warri and its environs for hoarding
petroleum products and selling above the
official pump price of N87.
DPR surveillance team led by Mr
Obukaroro Ovadje, Assistant Zonal
Manager, sealed the stations after the
surveillance which lasted more than
seven hours.
A correspondent of the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) who monitored the
exercise, reports that two of the filling
stations are located in Warri.
The other four are located in Udu Local
Government Area of the state.
One filling station at Jakpa road, Uvwie
Local Government Area, sold petrol
above the official pump price and also
under-dispensing.
The manager of the station was
compelled by the team to dispense his
stock free of charge to customers.
Ovadje told newsmen that the presidency
had directed that any filling station
caught selling petrol above the official
price should be compelled to dispense
the product free of charge to customers.
“This filling station dispenses fuel at
N140 and also under-dispense at 11.35,
as against the normal measurement of
10.0.
“With that, we have no choice than to
compel the manager to dispense to
customers for free in line with
government directive,’’ he said.
Ovadje said that DPR would continue to
monitor the activities of marketers to
ensure full compliance with the
government directive.
The manager of the filling station, who
refused to disclose his name, said that
`mechanical fault’ compelled him to sell
the product above the official price.
“Sometimes when it happens like this, we
quickly call the engineer to check and
rectify the fault; we sell at the regulated
pump price,’’ he said.
DPR Head, Public Affairs, Mr Goddey
Agusa, said that the department gave its
contacts to some people to furnish it with
information on the activities of filling
stations.
“We cannot be at all the place at the
same time, so we gave out our contacts to
some people to furnish us with
information about what is happening in
the filling stations around their areas.
“If we notice any change in any of the
filling stations we have visited, we will
slam them with serious sanctions,’’ he
warned.