By Michael Eboh
ABUJA — The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, yesterday, stated that the current fuel scarcity witnessed across the country will ease before the end of this week, as about eight million litres of premium motor spirit, also known as fuel, have been disbursed to Abuja and environs.

Zonal Operations Controller, Abuja, DPR, Mr. Mohammed Usman, who disclosed this during an enforcement activity in Abuja, said the meeting between the Federal Government and oil marketers had started to yield positive results, as it had brought about a slight improvement in the fuel situation.

According to him, after the intervention last week, oil marketers, on Monday, mobilised about eight million litres of fuel to Abuja and environs,

He further stated that the DPR had put in place strict measures and also stepped up its monitoring processes to check diversion of petroleum products.

He said: “We have been able to put in place measures that will check diversion. These measures include the use of the internet and loading manifest. Using these and other measures, DPR officials will be able to identify cases where a truck destined for a particular petrol station at a particular location is diverted elsewhere.

“The DPR officials will only need to visit the petrol station in question, check its tank, and where the quantity in the tank does not reflect what it is supposed to receive, the marketer will be asked to provide explanations; and where the explanations are not satisfactory, the station would be booked for sanctions.”

Criminals cashing in on crisis to defraud Nigerians

A man carries jerrycans to search for fuel in Lagos, on May 21, 2015. Long queues formed at petrol stations across oil-rich Nigeria on May 21 following a row over subsidy payment to petrol importers as well as sale of government oil blocks to private investors, union officials said. AFP PHOTO

Also speaking, Mr. Mohammed Saidu, Head, Public Relations, DPR, Abuja, lamented the fact that fraudsters have cashed in on the fuel crisis to dupe unsuspecting members of the public.

According to him, fraudsters posing as DPR officials are taking advantage of the crisis and are going about defrauding petrol station owners and even job seekers.

He said: “In the last couple of days, we were inundated by reports of certain unscrupulous individuals posing as DPR officials going to petrol stations across the country, threatening to seal them while extorting money from them.

“In some cases, the fraudsters tell the owners of the petrol station to give them certain amount of money so that they can give them the go-ahead to sell above the regulated price. These marketers go ahead to bribe the fake DPR officials and then they resort to selling above the official pump price.

“In some cases when our officials mete out sanctions to these petrol stations, they claim DPR had already given them clearance to engage in these unlawful acts.

“In another instance, the fraudsters also collect money from job-seekers, telling them that the money is for a DPR permit that is required before they will be able to get employment in the petroleum industry. In some other instances, they promise to help the job-seekers get jobs in multinational oil companies.”

Saidu stated that the activities of the fraudsters are currently undermining DPR’s quest to effectively regulate and monitor operators, especially in this period of fuel scarcity.

He called on Nigerians to be alert to the devices of the fraudsters, stating that officials of the DPR on enforcement activities always wear their badges, will never request for money from petrol stations and will always come in their official vehicles, branded with the DPR logo.

The situation had improved in some of the stations visited by Vanguard over the last couple of days. Mr. Kingsley Iyiegbu, the Dealer of Mobil petrol station in Utako, Abuja, said it currently has about 40,000 litres of fuel in its tanks and is still expecting a truckload of fuel before the end of the day.

Also, Mr. Dauda Yahyah, Manager, Eterna petrol station in Utako, said the queues on his station had lessened, adding that it has about 30,000 litres of petrol in its tanks.