Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has sealed some pumps belonging to Major Marketers’ filling stations including Mobil, Total, and NNPC Mega Station in Jos metropolis, warning their managers against such sharp practices as cheating that could betray the trust reposed on them.

Addressing journalists after going round to monitor the sales of the product in filling stations across the Jos metropolis, Operations Controller of DPR Jos office, Mr. Jerome Agada said, “As we approach the yuletide, we want to sustain the normalcy at filling stations particularly in Plateau State where we have passed through some flash of crisis in the past.

He said: “The Department is out visiting retail outlets; and today we have gone round a number of stations to ensure that their operational efficiency in terms of pump deliveries, functionality of their facilities comply with standard regulations, and out of the stations visited, six of them have committed offences that attracted sanctions.”

The stations include; Mobil Filling Station, opposite Plateau State Polytechnic, Jos Campus, AI’ Olabah Oil Co Nig. Ltd, Anglo-Jos, Tonimas Filling Station, Anglo-Jos, Total Filling Station, Dadin-Kowa, Jos, and NNPC Mega Filling Station, Secretariat Junction.

Their offences, according to Agada, include under-dispensing of the product to unsuspecting customers and malfunctioning pump nozzles used in dispensing, adding that they would be expected to pay the appropriate fines after which their sealed pumps would be unsealed.

Stressing that the DPR would sustain the tempo of the surveillance through the Christmas period into the New Year, Agada particularly cautioned the Major Marketers in the state to be wary of sharp practices to avoid the Department’s wrath.

Advising the affected stations to quickly attend to the issues that led to the sealing of their pumps, the Controller assured that there was no need for apprehension and panic buying since there are about 16 trucks of fuel coming into the state on daily basis, coupled with the fact that the depot in Jos was one of the strategic depots meant to store large volume of fuel to cushion effect of any shortage that may arise for any reason in the country.

He added that, “These strategic depots that store PMS can supply fuel to make up for any gap as we approach Christmas season.” He also said that at the end of October, the Jos depot had as much as 30 million liter of PMS in stock.