The Federal Government says it will clamp down and withdraw the licence of erring marketers aiding the peddling of fuel, particularly Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, in jerry cans.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) made this known after an indoor stakeholders’ meeting involving major retail outlet managers in Abuja on Friday, August 16, 2024.

The meeting was aimed at reiterating the authority’s standing regulations against illegal peddling of petrol in jerry cans.

The NMDPRA Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Ogbugo Ukoha, warned that henceforth the authority would ensure strict compliance.

Ukoha said the authority would increase its surveillance monitoring routine and clampdown on erring marketers found aiding and abetting this practice by suspending their retail licences.

He stated: “The authority is taking this decisive step to safeguard lives and properties of Nigerians that are usually at risk of fire outbreaks through improper handling of the volatile and highly flammable product.

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“The authority is also mindful of the nefarious practices of cross border smuggling of the products with the use of jerry cans and must tackle such.”

A team led by the executive directors of NMDPRA, Ukoha and Dr Mustapha Larmode in collaboration with security agencies, also conducted surveillance to some outlets in the nation’s capital.

In the process, the team discovered a couple of illegal fuel dumps and depots in Abuja.

The perpetrators were arrested and subsequently handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS) for prosecution.

The Star