The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has sealed a filling station in Katsina State, north-western Nigeria.
The filling station which was sealed on Friday is located in Jibia Local Government Area of the state, sharing a boundary with the Niger Republic.
However, transactions at the facility are being carried out in Nigerien currency – CFA franc.
Addressing reporters during the monitoring exercise, the Operations Comptroller at the Katsina DPR Field Office, Muhammad Aminu, explained the reasons why they decided to seal the facility.
He said the move was part of measures to discourage not only the diversion of petroleum products allotted to the station on July 29 and 30, but to also prevent sale of products to smugglers from the neighbouring country.
Mr Aminu said the station manager at the facility would be penalised for using a generator to dispense fuel close to the pump and selling the products inside jerrycans.
He called on the public to inform the agency whenever they found any station suspected to be selling the products mixed with water in order not to harm them.
The DPR official added that the exercise would continue until the practice was discouraged to the barest minimum.
