Rasaq AbdulKareem/
Motorists in Mowe area of Ogun State had a merry moment today at Mani Petrol Station, where the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) played Santa Claus by offering free petrol.
The free fuel by the DPR was the result of a sanction imposed on the owner of the station, who had ignored an earlier warning to dispense fuel at the regulated price of N145.
Reports say that the Head of Operations, DPR office in the state, Kasali Akinade, had earlier visited the station to warn the owner to start selling at the approved pump price.
DPR officials later returned to sanction the owner because he refused to comply with their earlier directive.
Kasali said it had become imperative for him to make a “scapegoat” out of the station, to serve as a deterrent to others around the area.
He wondered why people would want to make life difficult for fellow citizens. He said that the department had zero tolerance for such act of indiscipline.
He told NAN: “We got a tip-off that they are hoarding and selling at N220 per litre. We came here and instructed him to start selling at the approved pump price and forgave him for what he did.
“But as soon as we left his station, he reverted to the old price and even stopped selling. We had to turn back and make a scapegoat out of him.
“This will serve as a deterrent to others because we treated him as a gentleman at first, but he decided to sabotage the efforts of the federal government.”
He urged other marketers to stop short-changing the public, adding that if they had any grievances, they should channel it to the appropriate quarters rather than taking it out on the masses.
Some customers reportedly expressed their joy at the DPR’s intervention, saying they needed such acts while also advising proper monitoring on the part of the authorities.
According to the reports, other stations that were hitherto not selling were made to start selling just as those who were selling above pump price were made to revert to the normal price of N145 per litre.
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