The premium motor spirit (PMS) on sale at Futga Filling Station at Otokutu in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State is not adulterated, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Warri Zone, has said.
A DPR official in charge of publicity, Esther Adaeze, told Tribune Online that the PMS at the filling station was tested at their laboratory after they were alerted and certified unadulterated.
“I am speaking from an official point of view; we have done the laboratory test of the petroleum products from the filling station and our result showed that the fuel is adulterated,” the official had said.
The result followed a call by a human rights activist, Tracy Shalokpe, who led a protest to the filling station on Thursday, alleging the sale of adulterated PMS into her car and generating set.
She had told and shown journalists of how her car began to jerk and eventually got damaged a few metres after leaving the filling station.
Shalokpe, who’s also a businesswoman, informed journalists that the authorities of Futga Filling Station had earlier agreed to fix her car immediately she went to lodge her complaint, but they later recanted.
She disclosed that the authorities of the filling station had admitted that the heavy rain of last Sunday in Warri had found its way into the underground fuel tank of the station, but promised to do the needful.
However, in spite of the alleged admittance by the authorities of the filling station that the underground tank was leaking and would evacuate what was left of the fuel, the filling station still went ahead to continue to dispense to motorists.
On the alarm raised by the human rights activist and businesswoman, Shalokpe, that her car was allegedly damaged by the fuel purchased from Futga Filling Station, the DPR official asked if any other person had complained over the fuel sold there.
But speaking with the victim, Shalokpe, she said she would be taking legal action against the authorities of the fuel station and the DPR, alleging the latter had compromised in protecting the populace’s interest.
“How can the DPR deny that the fuel being dispensed at the filling station is not adulterated after the manager had admitted to me on audio and video recording that his tank is leaking and that he would evacuate the remaining fuel?
“How can the DPR claim the fuel that has damaged my car and it’s being attended to by my mechanic, who confirmed the volume of water in my fuel tank, is not adulterated?” she queried.
Meanwhile, the management of FUTGA Filling Station in Otokutu, which earlier kept sealed lips on the allegation, has finally reacted, denying selling adulterated PMS to the public.
In a statement obtained late Friday in Warri and issued by the Manager, Mr. Mike Omosade, the filling station said “our attention has been drawn to a report published by Tribune Online, on 10th of October, 2019, with the caption “Outrage in Delta over sale of adulterated petrol in Warri filling station”.
“As a responsible Nigerian corporate organization, we have and shall continue to serve the public, our customers and Nigerians satisfactorily, therefore, it is morally right to put the record straight that at FUTGA Petrol Station, we do our business in conformity with the DPR existing laws and best practices.”
and then