IGP orders prosecution of persons selling petrol in plastic containers

The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase has directed all Zonal Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and FCT/State Commands Commissioners of Police to arrest anybody found selling petrol and other petroleum products in plastic containers.

The order becomes necessary due to concerns emanating from the activities of black marketers, especially those who sell petroleum products inside plastic jerry-cans, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olabisi Kolawole, said in a press release on Tuesday.
The IGP, who issued the directives in Abuja on Monday, said apart from the hardship this act is causing to fuel buyers, it has also rendered some innocent and law abiding citizens homeless due to fire outbreak from jerry-can petrol storage, Kolawole revealed in the press release posted on the police’s official Facebook page.

He noted that fuel products such as petrol are highly flammable and if not stored and handled properly, can seriously endanger people, property and the environment.

The IGP warned fuel attendants at filling stations to desist from selling petrol inside jerry-can/plastic container, adding that both the buyers and the sellers of the products will be arrested and prosecuted under the law.