Ali Abare, Lafia
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said it has sealed over 20 filling stations in Nasarawa State for violation of safety rules and other irregularities from February to date.
Operations Controller of DPR, Lafia Office, Engr. M. B. Abdulrahman, disclosed this to journalists, on Thursday.
Abdulrahman explained that five stations were sealed within Lafia, the state capital for operating illegally as well as locating their businesses within residential areas.
He added that the remaining sealed stations were located across the state including the high density Mararaba axis close to the federal capital.
“The DPR will not condone individuals who operate illegally. The agency is set to enforce compliance and will not hesitate to sanction erring operators,” the controller said.
On perceived shortage of petroleum products, the operations controller assured consumers across the state of sufficient supply to take care of their needs.
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Engineer Abdulrahman further disclosed that Nasarawa State receives close to 30 trucks daily, with local marketers offloading products from Suleja, Jos and Makurdi depots.
“There should not be panic buying because there is sufficient products on ground to take care of the needs of customers,” he stated.
He however warned operators to stick to regulations or face the full wrath of the law.
The controller further warned fuel racketeers who buy fuel in jerrycans to resell at exorbitant price to desist from the act, as according to him, the agency will not take it lightly with such persons.
Also commenting, chairman of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) in Lafia, Alhaji Awaje Danladi, allayed fears of consumers, stressing that there is sufficient supply of petroleum products ground.
“There is no plan to increase pump price of petroleum products. There is no need to and stock fuel because there is every arrangement to ensure steady supply of fuel in Lafia,” he said.
Recently, fuel queues surfaced in major filling stations in Lafia, with consumers thrown into fear over allegations of impending pump price hike.
