The Director of DPR, Mr. Mordecai Ladan has warned Petroleum Products Depots and Filling Stations owners against products diversion, hoarding, pump manipulation and selling products above government approved prices.

adan gave the warning in Abuja while speaking against the backdrop of the purported resurgence of fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.

The Director warned that any petroleum products marketer found to be under-dispensing or selling products above government regulated prices shall be suspended for a minimum of two months.

Marketers caught divert­ing or hoarding the products for profiteering shall be sanctioned with a fine of two million naira and have their operating License revoked and prosecuted for national economic sabotage.

Ladan also mentioned that DPR is collaborating with Petroleum Equilisation Fund (PEF) and PPPRA to ensure that defaulters are sanctioned accordingly. Meanwhile, all DPR Offices nationwide have been directed to step up their monitoring activity and ensure full compliance by marketers.

In a related development, the newly appointed Operations Controller, Ilorin field office of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Salvation Ngazodo, read a riot act to petroleum marketers in Kwara State to desist from various illegal activities that could lead to economic loss in Nigeria.

Ngazodo warned against illegal construction of filling stations, diversion of fuel, hoarding and overpricing of fuel among other illegal prac­tices. He maintained that since the oil industry was facing some hard times, there was the need for strategic reasoning and cooperation for its survival.

The director stressed that he had the mandate and mission to enthrone high regulatory standards for the sustenance and growth of the industry. The DPR boss also condemned product adulteration and discharge of product without proper documentation, warning that the full wrath of the law would be visited on offenders.

The Representative of the State Fire Service and the Depot Manager of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Ilorin, Abdullah Ayinla, also supported the DPR boss, stating that the change mantra in the country should be reflected in the state.

The Secretary of the Kwara State Town Planning Author­ity, Raheem Adeoti, also con­demned the indiscriminate pur­chase of buildings to construct filling stations and expressed the readiness of the agency to effect the necessary correc­tions.

Reacting in an interview, the State Chairman of the In­dependent Petroleum Market­ers Association, Okanlawon Olanrewaju, agreed that some nonmembers indeed construct illegal filling stations. It is expected that the DPR and petroleum marketers would cooperate to correct the ills in the oil industry in the state, for the benefit of the people.