Ondo IPMAN protests illegal evacuation of diesel, kerosene, PMS

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3 years ago

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in Ondo State, has raised the alarm over the illegal lifting of diesel, kerosene and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as Petrol from the depot of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Ore, Ondo State.

The protesting IPMAN under the auspices of Concerned members of IPMAN kicked against the lifting and diversion of Petroleum products from the depot to an unknown destination.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Salisu Ojo explained that despite the depot being neglected for some years, said the products meant for Ondo and Ekiti states are currently being diverted to other parts of the country under the pretext of shortages.

According to him, some people visited the Ore Depot, armed with letters from NNPC headquarters to evacuate diesel and kerosene from the depot but said it was later discovered that the people who evacuated the products ended up diverting and selling the products to non-existing companies in Lagos to aid their diversion.

The protesting marketers said they had to protest following the discovery Having discovered the development that the same set of people came with another letter to evacuate Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the depot.

The marketers lamented that the people of Ondo and Ekiti states are currently suffering from the non-availability of diesel, kerosene and PMS which had led to long queues at filling stations mostly in the state capital, Akure.

He noted that long queues had returned to filling stations in Akure and some cities within the state as a result of scarcity of petroleum products while filling stations have been selling the products at different pump prices.

Ojo said some of the filling stations sell PMS between N180 and N200 per litre while diesel sells at N1000.

He alleged that NNPC seems to be conniving with some elements and unknown firms to allegedly perpetrate the criminal act in the petroleum market.

He, however, fingered the inadequate supply of petrol from the depots in Ore to the development saying NNPC should halt the unknown marketers from lifting petroleum products from Ore depot.

“We are calling on relevant agencies to investigate where diesel and kerosene that were loaded last week went into and also to make sure that the remaining PMS (petrol) at the depot should be spread across the two states, Ondo and Ekiti to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products in the two states,” he said.

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