By Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan.
As the fuel scarcity continued to cause more hardship to the people of Oyo State, the inspection teams of the Department of Petroleum Resources, Ibadan field office today sealed off over 50 filling stations across the state for various offences.
The sealing and subsequent sanction became inevitable as some independent fuel marketers in the state took undue advantage of the unsuspecting public by selling the product far above the government’s approved pump price. As at the time of filing this report, petrol is being sold between N110 and N150 in the state.
Other offences the erring fuel marketers were sanctioned for include, hoarding of petroleum products thereby creating artificial scarcity, absconding from station when people queue up to buy fuel and delaying sales of fuel product till late in the night to make illegal gains.
Acting on tip-off and series of complaints from members of the public on their ordeals from the fuel marketers in certain parts of the state, the staff of the Department, working in separate teams with the assistance of men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps visited the interior parts of the state where sharp practices are most rampant in an ongoing week-long exercise.
According to sources around Apete, Awotan, Yidi Arola, an interior part of the state on the Sango axis, where one of the teams inspected, the pump price of petrol sells between N110 and N150 per litre and an additional charge of N100 for every 10litres bought.
Fatoil located at the Sango-Eleyele road was sealed off for selling above the government approved pump price. Romkol Global Oil; Apete, Solace Global Resources Limited, Apete; Muhatorm Petroleum Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited all in Awotan-Iludun; Mericom Business Heritage, Arola; Towafad Interbiz limited, Arola and Gilog Oil Nigeria Limited, Awotan were also sealed off.
The team that inspected Apata, Ashipa, New-Garage, Arapaja and environs also sealed off more than twenty stations. Notably, Moore at Apata Odo Ona was sealed for selling PMS at N110 per litre and refusal to revert to government approved price and D-Nest, Apata/New Garage Expressway, Kuola was sealed off for selling at N100/ltr. While Sabara oil, Oleyo road, Ashipa was sealed for selling above pump price, two stations operated by Fem Mesh, at ijebu Ode road and Arapaja junction were sealed for refusing to sell fuel to awaiting public claiming they left it in reserve.
Engineer Olakunle Ogunlana, Operations Controller, Ibadan field office who described the scarcity as “artificial” explained that “government is doing enough to ensure availability of petroleum product across the country and will not hesitate to deal with saboteurs”
Speaking after the seal offs in Apata area, the OPSCON said: “it is the gimmick of the marketers to make it look as if government is not paying subsidy but government is paying. Even despite the directive to cut down on importation, it is still the duty of importers to import as long as they have the license to do so.” Reinstating the determination of his team to enforce government directive to the letter, Ogunlana urged fuel marketers in the state to be patriotic and save the public untold hardship.
Aside from the seal off, the teams of inspectors also engaged in inspecting the storage tanks of many filling stations in Sango, Apete, Arola and the environs that are not selling to confirm if they had stock or had diverted same
Earlier in the operation, a mild drama played out when the team got to NIPCO adjacent The Polytechnic Ibadan where fuel was selling for N100 per litre. After questioning the manager, the team ensured the selling price was immediate reversed to the government approved pump price of N87 instead of sealing off the station. The decision attracted a wide jubilation and commendation from the large crowd who claimed to have gathered to buy fuel for over ten hours.
The team also ensuring that sanity and orderliness was restored at many petrol stations selling at N87 but besieged by large crowds. This made many motorists who had queued up for more than 10 hours without making headway applaud the team for a job well done.