FG Shuts Filling Stations for Cheating Customers

• FG Shuts Filling Stations for Cheating Customers

There was confusion on Wednesday in some areas in Abuja as the Federal Government sealed some filling stations for dispensing less fuel than what customers paid for.

The enforcement team from Weights and Measures Department in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment sealed two Forte Oil filling stations and one belonging to Dan Oil, among others.

One of the Forte Oil stations is in Wuse District in Abuja while the other is located on Ibrahim Babangida Road. The Dan Oil station is located in Lugbe.

The closure was carried out following an investigation by an enforcement team from the ministry, which established that the filling stations were short-changing their customers.

The enforcement team was led by the Director, Weights and Measures Department, Sidi Mohammed.

Some of the stations who got wind of the enforcement exercise were quick to shut their stations, while others quickly re-adjusted their pumps to reflect the exact fuel gauge.

Addressing journalists during the exercise, Mohammed said the move became imperative owing to a series of complaints from consumers of petroleum products.

For instance, he said that the pumps in Dan Oil in Lugbe were sealed for not dispensing the exact quantity of petrol.

He said, “We have given them an invitation to come and give their own side of the story. The management of that station will come and give us in writing why that error is going on there. It is a systematic type of short measuring because the errors of all of them are identical based on our findings.

“So, it cannot just be a coincidence that all of them will be having the same error outcome. So, there are more investigations that are going to be carried out.”

Mohammed said while the rate of compliance had improved, some others had yet to comply with the Weights and Measures Act.

“We advise consumers to be mindful of this weights and measures department. We need their support in terms of people telling us what they have observed of whatever transpired between them and a seller of a commodity. If you are cheated or you felt short-changed, just come over let us investigate the issue,” he added.