Members of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria have decried continuous harassments of their members by security operatives in Rivers state. A cross section of Petroleum Marketers and owners of filling stations who spoke with our correspondent, accused the police of beating up workers at filling stations where fuel is not sold at the regulated price of eighty-seven naira per litre. The respondents wondered why the Police now play the role of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR . For his part, Caretaker Chairman of the Port Harcourt Unit of IPMAN, SUNNY NKPE said the Association has met with the Security Chiefs in the state to caution their men.
NKPE said the current scarcity being witnessed in filling stations across the country is not caused by the Marketers. Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission, NNPC has said there is no need for Nigerians to indulge in manic buying of fuel products. The Executive Director of Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, a division of the NNPC, JUSTIN EZIALA said the country has more than enough litres of petroleum products to serve the entire country for the next two weeks. EZIALA at a media briefing in Abuja also disclosed that there is absolutely no reason for the current scarcity. Our correspondent reports that Long queues will soon vanish from filling station with the assurance from the NNPC.
