Mohammed Oluwatimileyin Taoheed reports,
TrackNews Nigeria has that the members of the Ondo State chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have launched a peaceful protest over alleged illegal evacuation of diesel, kerosene and premium motor spirit(PMS) from the NNPC depot in Ore, Odigbo local government area of the state.
A source under anonymity from one of the protesters explained to our Correspondent, Mr. Mohammed Oluwatimileyin Taoheed, that the petroleum products from the NNPC Ore depot were supposed to be taken to Ekiti and Ondo States.
They said the products were being diverted to other places in the country on the excuses of scarcity, noting the northern parts as the most.
In an interview with Salisu Ojo, a representative of the protesters, he told our reporters that some people came with letters from NNPC headquarters to evacuate the diesel and kerosene.
Ojo alleged that what triggered the protest was when they uncovered that the those who got the products diverted and sold it to non existing companies in Lagos.
In his words: “Having discovered the development, we the marketers decided to protest when the same set of people came with another letters to evacuate premium motor spirit (PMS) from the depot.
“The people of Ondo and Ekiti states are currently suffering from nonavailability of diesel, kerosene and PMS and this had led to long queues at filling stations mostly in the state capital, Akure.
“We are calling on relevant agencies to investigate where diesel and kerosene that were loaded last week went into and also to make sure that the remaining pms (petrol) at the depot spread across the two states of Ondo and Ekiti.”
Last week, prices of PMS rose in Ondo State to between N175 per litre to N200 per litre.
