The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says it has set up a monitoring team to curb the movement of adulterated products by tanker drivers across the country.
Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, President, IPMAN told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that the move was part of its efforts to restore sanity to Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
He said the adulterated products were usually gotten from vandalised petroleum pipelines by some unscrupulous persons or from illegal refineries scattered across the creeks.
Okoronkwo said: “Tanker drivers are one of the major problems in the industry because, without them, these nefarious activities will not be possible.
“Some time ago, we visited President Muhammadu Buhari and he told us that our members were not doing the right thing in checkmating crude oil theft.
” So when we went back, we discovered that what the president was saying was right and that some of them were carrying adulterated products and products from illegal refineries.
“That is why we decided to set up the monitoring team to check these products, especially where they are coming from and where they are going.”
According to him, most of the tanker drivers are now aware that the team is stationed in strategic places to monitor their movement, and this will restore sanity to the industry.
He said, however, that the move was still being resisted by some persons for selfish purposes when all hands should be on deck to move the petroleum sector forward.
“This team has come to stay because we want to be able to monitor the activities of our members and expose those who are engaging in illegal activities.
“We don’t want our members involved in things that negatively affect Nigeria’s economy and our environment, ” he said.
On the partial relaxation of the lockdown of business activities by the government, he said IPMAN was happy with the development but would be happier if citizens are able to maintain the safety protocols.
Okoronkwo said: “Naturally we are happy that activities will gradually pick up following weeks of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
” We want it to be a win-win because while our members will be able to record more sales, Nigerians too should do what is right by observing social distancing, using face masks, washing their hands regularly and using sanitisers.
“Together we will beat this pandemic, but in order to do this, we all must play our parts so that we can get our country back on track.”