50 illegal filling stations operate in Akwa Ibom- DPR

Abiodun Oba

50 illegal filling stations operating in Akwa Ibom state have been discovered by the Department of Petroleum Resources, Eket office

The Operations Controller of DPR in Akwa Ibom Mr Tamunoiminabo Kingsley-Sunday made the disclosure in Eket on Monday.

He explained that the illegal filling stations refused to neither obtain Federal Government licenses nor follow due process in their construction.

He added that the filling stations were built without appropriate approval by the department in the state.

“There are 50 illegal filling stations in the state. We have come to a point in this country where people have decided to do things that are wrong.

“When I resumed a year ago, we observed that there were some fuel stations that were built without appropriate approvals from the department,” he said.

According to him, when building filling stations, there are things that are considered such as engineering design, safety, earth considerations and social economy of the area.

He condemned marketers that build filling stations that share boundaries with markets, schools, hospitals, saying that such stations would affect the economy of the area.

He warned marketers that build filling stations before coming to DPR for consideration to desist from it.

He said that the department had sensitised the marketers who were involved to come to the DPR office for reassessment and appropriate documentation.

“We have compiled those names and send them to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps to take appropriate actions,” he said.