Alleged extortion: IPMAN threatens to shut down operations in Ebonyi

• IPMAN may decide to shut down operations in Ebonyi State without further notification if the exploitation and intimidation did not stop

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has stated that it will no longer tolerate the intimidation and exploitation of marketers in Ebonyi State by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and IGP monitoring teams.

Chinedu Anyaso, Chairman of IPMAN, Enugu Depot Community in Charge of Anambra, Ebonyi, and Enugu States, stated this in response to a protest by marketers in Ebonyi State against alleged illegal activities of the OC anti-vandals, NSCDC bunkering, and IGP monitoring team.

Anyaso urged the Ebonyi State Government to intervene and put an end to the criminal exploitation of marketers in his state by the NSCDC OC Anti Vandals team and the IGP monitoring team, which criminalised their legitimate businesses in order to extort money from them.

He said IPMAN may decide to shut down operations in Ebonyi State without further notification if the exploitation and intimidation did not stop.

He said even after his meeting with the NSCDC Commandant on the matter, personnel of the anti-vandal team still arrested two trucks belonging to marketers in the state and collected N70,000 from them for allegedly insulting them.

“It is unfortunate that the NSCDC anti-vandals team in Ebonyi State under one Ben has made marketers their cash cow, they harrass, arrest and extort money from my members at will.

“They say we must inform them when we want to pump product from one underground tank to another within the same station or elsewhere, this comes with the sum of N10,000 which is not duty or captured by the Petroleum Industry Act.

“If they see my member moving product to another station, they seize the truck and collect as much as N400,000 in the name of diversion.

“The IGP monitoring team stops them at the borders leading into Ebonyi State and collects N5,000 on every truck, this is why products are more expensive in Ebonyi State.

“This is additional burden on our stressed businesses and we will no longer accept this, so we are calling on the Ebonyi State Governor, Commandant of NSCDC and IGP to investigate and stop these infractions to avoid shutdown of the system,” he said.

Anyaso said the cost of doing has become high that two or three marketers now pooled resources to buy a truck of product under one waybill noting that nobody should take advantage of them.