Francis Sardauna in Katsina
The Katsina State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has warned Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in the state against hoarding or selling the product to black marketers who may be smuggling it to neighbouring countries.
The newly posted state Commandant of the NSCDC, Jamilu Abdu Indabawa, gave the warning in a meeting with the leadership of the association at the Command headquarters in Katsina.
He said diversion of petroleum allocated to the state, economic sabotage and inadequate supply of the product from the deports have been hampering the efforts of the government at both the federal and state level to maintain an adequate supply of fuel.
The NSCDC boss in a statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Tukur Abdara, warned the marketers in the strongest terms that he has been posted to Katsina State with a renewed vigour to tackle the menace as part of the Corps core mandate.
He said the NSCDC is committed to crippling the activities of economic saboteurs and criminals by ensuring proper surveillance, patrol and monitoring of the supply and distribution of fuel, with the anti-vandal team of the command on the prowl for the saboteurs.
The state Chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji Abbas Hamza, who spoke earlier, assured the commandant of their readiness to fully cooperate with the command to ensure the continuous supply of fuel allocated to and are sold in the state.
He also assured Indabawa that the association was doing its best to tackle the problem of diversion and smuggling which may be committed by unscrupulous marketers in the state.
According to him, members of the IPMAN are still abiding by the Katsina State Government’s directive forbidding the sale of petroleum to black marketers in order to prevent smuggling or selling of the product to bandits.
