The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), on Wednesday,
arrested a filling station owner in Abua, Danladi Eya, for operating an
illegal outfit and selling petrol at N210/litre, which was far above the
N145/litre threshold.
Consequently, the officials dispensed 14,400 litres of the product
free to motorists and motorcyclists to serve as a deterrent to the
company and other recalcitrant dealers.
The illegal fuel station is located at Zauda on Gwagwa Deidei Road,
Abuja and the operation was carried out by DPR’s Operations Task Force
led by its Abuja Zonal Controller, Abba Misau.
Misau, while briefing newsmen after the exercise said that the fuel
station, which had no name, was clearly operating illegally in the area.
“We came here based on intelligence gathering. We got information
that there exists an illegal station that sells above the pump price.
That is why we came to confirm and on reaching here we discovered
that the owner was selling at N210. We look around, we asked of their
license but they don’t have and they are selling the product to people.
When I looked around, I saw that it is situated in an unapproved site.
It is in the midst of a community and a filling station is not supposed
to be sited there.
“They have one case of illegal station and another is selling above
pump price. Since we don’t know of their existence we have to start
dispensing free. We don’t have their record.
“We discovered that the storage tank has 14,400 and we decided to dispense to motorists and cyclists free.
“However no sooner than we started dispensing that one of the staff
went and disconnected the light while the machine was on. We will ensure
that the security is beefed up and the area condone off the station
until the exercise is completed,” he said.
The Zonal Controller blamed the resurgence of fuel queue in the FCT on instability of product supply to Abuja and its environs.
“But we have been given assurance by the PPMC that the product supply
will be stable. Since the station is an illegal station, we will hand
them over to civil defence to prosecute him and find out from the
development control if they have any approval for it and if not it
should be demolished.
“Even if it has approval, we will advise that it is revoked for safety sake,” he said.
Reacting, jubilant motorists hailed the DPR for the clampdown on hoarders, urging them to sustain the tempo.
In unison, they claimed the owner had been selling above pump price since December 2017.
The owner of the fuel station, Danladi Eya said he bought the fuel
from the licenced marketer, even as he pleaded with the DPR for mercy.
He insisted he took a facility from the bank to embark on the business when he could not get job as a graduate.
“I am a Nigerian I need to survive I am a degree holder and cannot steal so I venture in to the business,” he lamented.
The leader of Anti-vandal Squad of the Nigerian Security and Civil
Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abuja, Ayinde Yusuf, said the owner of the
station was arrested because he was operating illegally.
He said the culprit would be prosecuted in accordance with the law of the land to serve as lesson to others.