Onimisi Alao, Yola
The quantity of petrol coming to Adamawa State has dropped from 100 trucks per day to about 30, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has disclosed.
The state Operations Controller of the DPR, Alhaji Ibrahim Ciroma, who stated this, attributed it to the closure of Nigerian land borders which has curbed smuggling.
Ciroma said while on inspection tour of the border villages in Bele in Maiha local government area and Gurin in Fufore local government area that the border closure had ended fuel racketeering across the border along the Adamawa borderline.
The DPR coordinator, who was touring filling stations 20 kilometers to the border to ensure compliance with a Federal Government directive, said the border closure had done much good in the fight against fuel smuggling.
“Prior to this closure, the number of trucks we received in Adamawa was up to 100 trucks per day but today it has dropped to between 30 and 40 trucks.
“So, it’s a clear indication that fuel is not finding its way out of the country,” Ciroma said.
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Ciroma added that with the drop in supply and without scarcity in the state, “it is a confirmation that 70 trucks of the products lifted by some marketers were smuggled out of the country.”
He said compliance by filling stations in prohibited areas had been effected 100 percent, and that measures were also taken to ensure that other filling stations not within the prohibited zones were selling so that people within the prohibited zone can easily get fuel without travelling long distances.
He assured Adamawa people that they would get fuel constantly during Christmas and New Year as there is enough supply already to last the season.
“I want the people of Adamawa to be rest assured that there will be no scarcity. We have substantial quantity at the Yola depot and all filling stations are selling except those in prohibited zones.”
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