Augustine Okezie, Katsina
THE Department of Petroleum Resources in Katsina State on Saturday burst a fuel syndicate that specialises in diverting PMS to neighbouring Niger Republic using cellophane bags rather than their usual jerry cans.
The syndicates, who were mostly Nigeriens, were caught at A U Sauki filing Station, Kofar Kuga, Katsina, filling litres of PMS into the bags.
The filling station was subsequently sealed off and the owner arrested for selling fuel inside polythene bags. The state controller, Aminu Mohammed, told pressmen during the operation in the Katsina that selling fuels through polythene bags is against the law
He said: “We are on a normal monitoring operation round the town and we discovered the station selling fuel into polythene bags, which is inappropriate. We decided to seal off the station and arrest the owner and he is going to face the full wrath of the law.
“We have been doing this operation for quite some time, the owner of the station will attest to the fact that we were here sometime back to warn them, but today we’ve decided to close down the station and we will prosecute him to serve as a deterrent to others.”
In a reaction to the above development, the Katsina State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nzomosel Moses, said the corps is working hand in hand with DPR in apprehending offenders before charging them to court for prosecution.
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He added that they will continue the collaboration in tracking down illegal operators of petro substances who refused to do the right thing in the state. The DPR boss further called on Katsina State citizens to collaborate with the agency in checkmating the smuggling of fuel across to other neighbouring countries.
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