Motorists queue for fuel in Nigeria (File photo)
The supply and price of petrol in Anambra have worsened as customers now pay between N250 and N300 per litre in the state.
Most filling stations in Awka and its environs had the product but refused to dispense.
However, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) monitoring and enforcing the situation, compelled marketers to sell the product at the government regulated price of N145 per litre
The team, which came from Enugu Office, also sealed 12 filling stations, including an NNPC mega station for hoarding the product.
The team, led by Mr Daniel Atama, however, met stiff resistance at Stanel Service Station which set its meter at N145 but was not dispensing, in spite of the long queues of motorists who had waited for over 24 hours.
The DPR efforts to get the owners of the station to sell proved abortive as the manager said he would only sell at whenever he wished and would not take orders from DPR.
Atama subsequently placed a seal order on the station for hoarding the products but an official of the station pulled the seal off immediately and threw it away right before the DPR team.
The DPR agents, however, left the station to avoid a brewing crisis.
But reacting to the development, Mr Chris Orage, General Manager of the station said he did not remove the seal placed by the DPR.
Orage said the station had limited products and was trying to manage the queue.
He denied defying the DPR orders because the station enjoyed support from some highly placed people in Anambra government.
At an NNPC mega station, the entrance was closed while motorists waited patiently for them to start dispensing.
The DPR, however, entered the station and demanded that the underground tank be dipped to check if the product was available.
The DPR sealed the station when the attendants refused to obey the instruction after which the manager was called on phone and directed that the officials be allowed to check if the product was available.
However, it was discovered that about N12,000 litres of petrol was available and DPR also ordered instant dispensing of the product.
One of the motorists at the mega station, Mr innocent Uzor, said they were patiently waiting because the station usually sold at night.
“We are here because we know they have fuel and they sell at N145, they usually sell at night.
“We thank the DPR for this enforcement, these marketers just make us suffer, may be because it is Christmas,” he said.
Customers at ARCON filling Station, Unizik junction, NIPCO Amawbia and other stations were jubilant as the marketers were made to revert prices from between N200 and N220 to the normal price of N145 per litre.
Atama warned that the exercise would be a continuous one and that unscrupulous marketers should stop fleecing the public as there was no increase in the cost of petrol.
But the Managing Director of ARCON, whose outfit was also sealed for allegedly reverting to N200 after the DPR officials left, said it was impossible for them to sell at N145 because the landing cost was much more than that.
The MD, who did not disclose his name, said he would rather have his station sealed than sell at a loss.
-NAN
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