The Department of Petroleum Resources has visited filling stations close to the Mfum border in Etung local government area of Cross River with a view to ensure compliance to closure order.

This is part of the directives by the Federal Government that all filling stations operating within 20 kilometres to the border and interland should not be supplied petroleum product.

Mr SirCham Musa-Mohammed, Acting Operations Controller of DPR in Cross River,  after a surveillance exercise across the state that all affected the filling stations which shares a boundary with Cameroon had complied with the directives.

“For us to ensure that this is been complied with, we visited the Ikang border post in Bakassi and the Mfum border in Etung; both areas shares boundaries with Cameroon.

“There was a very good compliance by marketers in those areas. No product was being sold. People drive from the border to Ikom local government area to get fuel.

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“We have to ensure compliance with the Federal Government directives pending when the ban will be lifted.

“There are so many security agencies along the Mfum border who are also checking activities in that area; I must commend them.

“Presently, we don’t allow anybody to load any product from the Calabar depot to that area,” he said.

He said that during the surveillance, 47 filling stations were visited while two were sealed for under-dispensing the product and were later unsealed after the pumps were adjusted.

He gave the assurance that the DPR would continue to monitor activities of petroleum marketers in the state with a view to ensure that standard were followed.

For the Christmas and New Year season, he assured residents of the state that there was no need for panic buying, adding that there would be adequate product supply during the period.