NAN – 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 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.
