Olufemi Adeyemi
It says it could no longer fold its arms to
watch some unscrupulous marketers taking advantage of the scarcity of petroleum
products to jeopardize national security.
The DSS, said it would launch a manhunt and
fish out those engaging in any destructive tendencies if queues for patrol at
various fuel stations across the country does not disappear in the next 48
hours, no matter their status.
The DSS, said the warning had become
necessary following the persistent fuel scarcity of petrol ravaging the country
and causing hardship on the citizens.
DSS public relations officer Peter Afunaya,
said the decision was reached at the end of a crucial meeting between the
agency and all the stakeholders in the petrol supply chain held at the DSS
headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.
Those in attendance include Nigerian
National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream
Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers (NUPENG), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria
(IPMAN), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot operators
among the others.
He said that during the meeting with the
stakeholders, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited discovered that
it had about 1.9 billion litres of PMS in stock which will last for during the
Christmas and new year celebrations.
Afunanya, at a media briefing with
journalists after the meeting, said the agency would take steps to deal with
unscrupulous marketers using artificial fuel scarcity to threaten national
security.
He said “it the mandate of the Service to
detect and prevent threat to National Security, this is why the Service has to
Summon the Stakeholders meeting in the oil and gas sector to find a lasting
solution to the probem before it snowball to crisis
“The stakeholders at the meeting included:
Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Nigerian Midstream and
Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and
Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of
Nigeria (IPMAN), Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot
operators and National Association of Transport Owners, NATO among others.
“There is an agreement that marketers will
be operating for 24hrs on daily basis and that tankers owners said all hands
will be on deck to ensure lifting of the products. “IPMAN has also committed
itself to ensure that the product is available for 24hrs daily.
“The NNPC Ltd disclosed thatt it has over
1.9bn litres of PMS in stock and also agreed to sell the products at offical
ex- Depot price to all Oil marketers Nationwide
“For we at the DSS, we agreed to provide
adequate security for fuel distribution.
“Therefore, we insisted that the fuel
distribution must improve and all challenges eliminated in 48hrs, and after
48hrs, we will as a matter of urgency carryout operations across the country.
And in doing this, we won’t mind whose oars is gored.
“We are sounding a note of warning that it
won’t be business as usual. We have set our commands and platform nationwide on
high alert and they are to get information on any element who want to obstruct
these efforts
“We are also advising the members of the
public not to capitalize on the fuel scarcity to take laws into their hands as
the Service will deal ruthlessly with individual or groups trying to obstruct
even distribution of the products”.