DSS Gives 48-hours Ultimatum To Petrol Dealers Over Fuel Scarcity
Fuel scarcity in Nigeria just took another turn with DSS giving ultimatum to petrol marketers to resolve and return to normalcy The Department of State Services, or DSS, yesterday gave all parties involved in the fuel supply chain a 48-hour deadline to resume supplying petroleum products at the officially approved rate across the nation, or prepare to bear the consequences of their actions. This move was apparently made in response to the country’s continuing gasoline shortage. The DSS issued a warning that anyone discovered to be sabotaging the nation’s supply of petroleum products after the deadline had passed would be viewed as a danger to national security and subject to legal repercussions. This was the conclusion reached during a strategic discussion held on Thursday at the DSS headquarters in Abuja with the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation Limited, big marketers, depot owners, tanker drivers, and individual marketers. Dr. Peter Afunanya, the DSS spokesman, addressed the media after the meeting and stated: “We were clear and direct in telling the stakeholders in the fuel distribution system that enough is enough and that whatever is causing the country’s lack of petroleum products must be resolved immediately as Nigerians have the right to see and purchase fuel at the official price at all times. The NNPCL and all parties involved agree that there is enough fuel in the depots across Nigeria, and we also made it clear to them that the government will no longer tolerate any form of scarcity, adding that those who may want to doubt our involvement in the matter should note that it touches on our core values. We issued a stern warning to everyone involved, saying that the petroleum supply system would no longer operate as normal and that anybody found to be impeding the distribution of fuel would be subject to the full force of the law and regarded as an enemy of Nigeria. “That moving ahead, the DSS is to conduct operations throughout the nation to deal ruthlessly with anyone preventing the delivery of petroleum products to Nigerians at the authorized official rate. Our primary role is to identify and stop threats to national security, but we also have the duty to look into national crimes and economic sabotage, and if that is proven, we will act accordingly, We will make every effort to find individuals responsible and deal with them in line with Nigerian law....