Scarcity: Operatives trail marketers hoarding, hiking petrol price

From Clement A. Oloyede (Kano), Simon E. Sunday & Faruk Shuaibu (Abuja)

Towards ensuring that the queues for petrol at various retail outlets are eased, several operatives have begun a clampdown on marketers who are hoarding the product or selling it at above the N165 per litre price band.

The CEO/GMD of NNPC Ltd, Mallam Mele Kyari, earlier this week said the company has constituted a monitoring team, with the support of the Authority (NMDPRA) and security agencies to ensure smooth distribution of petrol nationwide.

NNPC also implored Nigerians to avoid panic buying and assure that the ongoing efforts will be sustained to restore normalcy in a few days’ time.

The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) said it started the clamp down after residents and motorists lamented the acts of many fuel marketers in Kano. The acting Chairman of PCACC, Barrister Mahmoud Balarabe, said the commission reached out to the leadership of the Kano chapter of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) but did not get any response.

“On Tuesday morning, we went on raiding some filling stations and we arrested six people at the six filling stations we went to. Most of them are managers who changed the pump price to N200 and N208 per litre against the N165. On Wednesday, we also arrested another six individuals. In one filling station, we discovered over 4,000 litres of fuel in their tank but they were not selling,” he said.

IPMAN Kano chairman, Bashir Ahmad Danmallam, did not take calls put to him.

In Abuja, the movement of the monitoring team could not be verified immediately; however, some station attendants in Wuse and Asokoro confirmed the visit of security agents to monitor how the product is being sold.

In Ilorin, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Wednesday warned fuel station owners to desist from hoarding products in Kwara state.

The State Commandant, NSCDC, Mr Makinde Ayinla, at a briefing said: “This is in line with the directive of the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, that we should make sure that petroleum products are available to the people and at recommended pump prices.”