DPR seals 14 Petrol Stations In Lagos.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday visited some petrol stations in Lagos unannounced, and in the process, shut down 14 of the stations for over-charging and manipulating their dispensing pumps, among other offences.

Among the stations are Mobil at Owode bus-stop, Ikorodu; So Super Limited (Sahara), Ogolonto, Ikorodu; General Oil Limited, Ketu; Walesaf, Owode-Idera bus-stop, Ikorodu, and HS Petroleum at Ketu.

DPR officials findings revealed that some of the affected stations pumps were under-dispensing fuel, with almost one litre lost by buyers for every 10 litres bought.


According to The Punch, in one of the stations, , 150 litres of water was found in 30,000 litres of fuel in one of its tanks.

At Ibeju-Lekki, Kaz Oil, Lakowe; Forte Oil, Gulf road, Lakowe; Ona Ara Oil and Gas Station; Forte Oil, Molete; Wakass, Igando-Oloja; Forte Oil, Abule Folly Ibeju, and Forte Oil, Oribanwa were all sealed.

One of the aforementioned station was sealed for hoarding 24,000 litres of fuel, even as the owners refused to open their pumps for testing by the DPR officials.

A particular station whose pumps read N86.50 per litre at the timethe DPR officials got there, under-dispensed petrol by 0.8 litre for every 10 litres, thereby making unsuspecting members of the public buy the product above N90 per litre.

Another station was sealed as the management and staff of the station switched off their pumps and took to their heels on hearing that the DPR were at the nearby station.


At two other stations, the pumps were under-dispensing by as much as 1.26 per litre for every 10 litres, meaning that a buyer who was there to buy 10 litres got less than 9 litres.

The Zonal Operations Controller, Lagos, DPR, Chioma Njoku, in an interview with journalists at the end of the agency’s statewide tour, said  pay a fine of N100,000 each for the illegalities.

She said: “Some of them engage in manipulating their pumps that under-dispense to the public, which is a way of over-charging the buyers and they bear the brunt of it when caught.”

Last month, DPR had vowed to sanction depot owners and major marketers who sell petrol and kerosene above the official price. The agency also used the opportunity to reiterate its directive to all depots, marketers and operators to abide by the official pricing regime to avoid sanctions.