IPMAN Charges Members On Restrictions Order Adherence

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Rivers State, has called on its members to adhere strictly to the border restriction orders issued by the state government on account of the recent insecurity concerns in the nation.
The  State Chairman, IPMAN, Mr Joseph Obele, made the call in a statement in Port Harcourt, noting that move would help curtail attacks on their personnel and products.
Obele pledged the association’s unalloyed support to the proactive steps the state government was taking to curb the rising spate of insecurity across the nation.
The state IPMAN chairman stressed that  the action by the state government needed to be supported in order to assist security agencies to effectively perform their duties.
According to him, “We should reduce night operational hours and probably close sales outlets on or before 8pm since vehicular traffic and night movements are likely to reduce within this period.
“Petroleum marketers should plan all personal movements within and outside the state effectively in order not to break the border restriction order as there is currently no exemption for them.
“Marketers should endeavour to notify family members about personal movements as they journey across states and also report suspicious movements to nearest police stations,”.
While expressing optimism on the planned revitalisations of the Port Harcourt refinery, Obele urged IPMAN members to keep fate with the federal government on the project.
He said, “Marketers should remain hopeful as the turnaround maintenance process of the Port Harcourt refinery commenced yesterday.
“The exercise took off with steaming of the Area 5 plant (old refinery) for the purpose of flushing the tunnels, in preparation for the turnaround maintenance billed to commence by next week,” he said.
He used the opportunity to appeal to petroleum products marketers to continue to maintain the  approved fuel station pump price of N165 to N175 per litre “as private depots still sell to marketers at the rate of N155 per litre”
It would be recalled that Governor Nyesom Wike had  announced curfew on the state land borders between 8pm and 6am last Tuesday.

By: Tonye Nria-Dappa