Banditry: Sokoto curtails supply of fuel above N5,000 to motorists

Sokoto State Government has capped the maximum amount of petroleum product motorists and tricycles operators can buy per time at N5,000 and N500 respectively.

The state government reached this agreement with the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) during a stakeholder meeting in Sokoto as part of measures to curb banditry.

“There is also an order that pegs the maximum amount of the products at five thousand naira for motorists and five hundred naira for motorcycles respectively,” Abubakar Usman, the chairman of IPMAN said while addressing newsmen.

Also, a ban was placed on the sale of fuel into jerry cans at various filling stations across the state, Tribune reported.

Lamenting over the activities of bandits, Mr. Usman also explained that filling stations found flouting the orders would be prosecuted.

“The governor set up a task force to implement his executive order on insecurity and part of which is the ban on selling petroleum into jerry cans for anyone in the state,” he said.

“We have notified all our members across the twenty-three local governments area of the state that any filling station selling jerry cans or selling above the recommended price will be prosecuted accordingly,” Mr. Usman added. 

In his remarks, Bashar Gidado, the state commissioner for commerce, argued that the order was necessary to curtail the supply of products to bandits.

Mr. Gidado stressed that the sale of the product to bandits affects the state’s fight against banditry while assuring that the ban would be reviewed as soon as the situation improves.

Members of the task force include the commissioner of police, the state attorney general, the Nigerian Army, and other security agencies. 

Earlier this month, the state governor, Aminu Tambuwal, signed 10 executive orders as part of measures to fight against banditry.