The raid was carried out round Kaduna metropolis which has been experiencing long queues for about two weeks.
All the stations inspected by officials of the department were discovered to have adjusted their metres to defraud customers.
The director, Mohammed Sidi, said the raid was to protect consumers and ensure that the filling stations conform to lay down regulations in their operations.
“We are here to make sure that people get the same measure or quantity for their money. Some filling stations were selling more than the pump price of N97 per litre. Despite the hardship we are facing of fuel scarcity, somebody has the mind set to sell at N125 per litre; may be he bought it at a higher price, but when we checked the metre we found out that in every 20 litters he sells, he only gives 16 litters. That is the level of inhumanity in the minds of people,’’ he said.
He said the department would continue to monitor the filling stations to ensure that motorists were not unduly cheated.
“Part of our efforts in Kaduna is to unveil the extent of decay in this sector, to make sure that as much as possible correct things are done, but when things are out of hand we will take the offenders to court,’’ he said. (NAN)
