Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State Government has sealed three fuel stations that allegedly indulged in sharp practices like meter adjustments and other sharp practices.
The state government also issued a stern warning to fuel dealers and marketers in the 13 local government areas of the state, to shun shady practices.
The Special Assistant to the State Governor on Petroleum, Mr Nwafor Nnaemeka, stated this in Abakaliki, the state capital.
Nnaemeka, who read the riot act to fuel dealers, further threatened that the government would continue to seal any fuel stations that failed to give the masses measurably what they paid for.
He said: “Fuel pump price hike is a global menace especially in this country. The sudden increase of the pump price both from the depot to fuel station owners, due to unavailability of the products and as it stands now, Ebonyi State is not an exception. It is almost everywhere in the country and all states are experiencing it.
“We have been working tirelessly to make sure that fuel stations are not unde-dispensing. We got information that due to the unavailability of the product, people are using the opportunity to defraud the masses.
“That’s why we deployed a task force to go to all the fuel stations in the state to make sure that they monitor the activities of fuel stations closely. So far, we have sealed three fuel stations; Edde Mass, R&C and Dozi Oil & Gas fuel stations due to under-dispensing.
“We are not leaving any stone unturned and the process continues and after the urban areas, we will relocate to the rural areas and make sure that the masses get value of what they paid for.
He further debunked the allegations making the rounds in the state that fake task force agents have flooded fuel stations and extorted money from dealers.
“Anybody who is saying that the government is not checkmating the activities of the fuel station owners is not saying the truth, that is what resulted in sealing the 3 fuel stations and they will not go free and probably we are going to use them as an example, because it is not good to defraud the masses. They are going to face the full wrath of the law.
“Also, it is not true that fake task force agents are flooding fuel stations in the state. I have task force agents that were approved by the governor, Francis Nwifuru, to work under my department to checkmate the sharp practices that are going on in most of the fuel stations in the state, ranging from adulteration, meter adjustments and other unholy activities, thereby making the masses not to get the value of what they paid for.
“For now, there is nothing like fake task force agents in the state as far as petroleum is concerned. The task force agents we have now are legally approved by the governor and they are making a move detecting those faults from the fuel stations,” he stated.
