Illegality: DPR Seals Two Gas Facilities In Akwa Ibom

The Department of Petroleum Resources has sealed up two illegal gas facilities in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Punch NG report.

The gas stations are located in private homes with holes connecting to cylinders kept at the back of the houses.

The illegal gas station at Ukana Offot-Duk Vendor has a giant cylinder that had been welded.

The Operations Controller, DPR, Akwa Ibom State, Mr Tamunoiminabo Kingsley-Sundaye, on Wednesday, expressed surprise that some people could set up such facilities that were capable of wiping off a whole community just to make quick money.

He added that the exercise was just a warning to the operators of the illegal gas stations that are 3.2km apart or seven minutes’ drive from each other.

He said in a few days’ time, the DPR would revisit the places and arrest anyone found within the facilities.

He said, “This morning, we got an intelligence report that two places in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital,have broken the law by establishing facilities that were not allowed, not recognised by law in Nigeria. The report had it that where they were housing gas cylinders were private homes and pipes placed outside with holes dispensing the product to the public.

“These facilities have no engineering standards that have been approved by the DPR. They have no safety measures and if these facilities are allowed to remain in the neighborhood, the entire people within that vicinity are in danger. That is why we have to seal up these illegal gas stations.”