DPR seals 13 petrol stations in Akwa Ibom

The Department of Petroleum Resources said that  it had sealed 13 fuel stations in Akwa Ibom for selling petrol above the N145 per litre pump price.

DPR Controller for Akwa Ibom and Cross River, Bassey Nkanga on Sunday  told the News Agency of Nigeria in Eket that the stations sold petrol for N180 between Feb. 22 and 27.

Nkanga, however, said that some of the affected filling stations had paid the fines imposed on them but were still under seal because they were serial offenders.

“Paying the fine does not guaranteed that we will unseal them. If you are a serial offender, we can decide to shut down your station for a while,’’ he said.

He warned petroleum product marketers in the state to desist from selling the product at odd hours, threatening that those involved would be sanctioned if caught.

The DPR official added that the department would continue monitoring filling stations to ensure that the products were sold at the approved pump price.

Nkanga said that the department was partnering with other government agencies to ensure that marketers did not short-change the public.