Premium Motor Spirit is currently selling between N250 and N300 per litre in some filling stations in parts of the South-East as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria directs its members to withdraw their services from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation loading depot in Enugu.
The hike in pump price followed the alleged attack of the IPMAN secretariat by the Police at the Enugu depot, on Thursday.
The National President of IPMAN, Alhaji Sanusi Fari, in a statement on Thursday, in Enugu, said that the directive given to its members was in response to the attack by the police against a subsisting court order.
“Sequel to this ugly development, the National Executive Committee of IPMAN has resolved and directed the withdrawal of our services at the Enugu loading depot with immediate effect.
“This will stop our services to members of the public in Enugu, Anambra, and Ebonyi from September 17 until the police illegality is reversed,” it read.
When contacted by the News Agency of Nigeria, the Police Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Command, ASP Daniel Ndukwe, denied the allegation.
Rather, Ndukwe said that detectives from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja, were on an investigation trip to the IPMAN office to serve the association’s members invitation over a court matter.
NAN recalls that the South-East had been grappling with an acute shortage of petroleum products following a strike by the petroleum tanker drivers in the zone.
This accounts for the increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit in the area with a litre currently selling between N250 and N300 in most petrol stations.
