Fuel shortage looms as IPMAN and NUPENG cease operations

• In their view, the decision had become unavoidable due to the ongoing “harassment and blackmail of members by the police”.

Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in Oyo and Osun states have stopped loading and transportation of petrol and other related products.

At an emergency meeting in Ibadan on Saturday, oil industry stakeholders announced the cessation of their activities.

In their view, the decision had become unavoidable due to the ongoing “harassment and blackmail of members by the police”.

The emergency meeting was attended by Mutiu Bukola, Chairman of Ibadan Depot, and Hammed Hamzat, Chairman of NUPENG Tanker Drivers Department (PTD).

Also present were Surajudeen Adegoke, Chairman, Independent Marketers Division, NUPENG, and Olalekan Lawal, Vice Chairman, IPMAN.

NAN reports that they unanimously condemned the operations of the “Inspector General of Police (IGP) surveillance team” on the highway for “hindering the transportation of petroleum products” from depots to filling stations in the two states.

On behalf of the associations, Bukola called for an immediate end to the harassment and blackmail of association members.

He said they would not resume operations until the problems were resolved.

According to the IPMAN branch chairman, no petrol stations would be opened and there would be no movement of petrol tankers in the two states until the IGP surveillance team members were removed from the roads.

“A tanker driver delivering a truckload of diesel was arrested and detained along with his truck at Gbongon junction in Osun in the early hours of Saturday,” the associations said.

“The team has taken on the role of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which acts as the regulator for the sector.

“The NMDPRA officials at the lifting depot had already certified the product, which means there was no problem at all, only the driver and the truck were detained by the IGP monitoring team in Gbongbon.

“We hereby demand the immediate release of the driver and the truck.”

He said that in recent months, police had “wrongfully arrested” several tanker drivers and operators, only to find out after investigation that they were innocent.

“There will be no truck traffic in and out of Osun and Oyo states, which means there will be no loading of petroleum products from the depot to the filling stations in the two states,” he said.

“The purpose of the IGP monitoring team was to prevent vandalism of pipelines, but the team has abandoned its function and is now pursuing other things.”

Bukola also condemned the numerous charges which he said were “paralysing” operations in the oil sectors of both countries.