Julius Ozuah, the general manager of the Nigeria National Petroleum Product Limited (NNPCL) retail station in Asolo, Ikorodu, Lagos State, has revealed that the company sacked all identified salespeople collecting bribes from customers after a story by FIJ.

This is coming less than a week after FIJ published a story exposing the bribe-taking employees and their style of extorting customers.

Ozuah explained to FIJ that the management found out that the report was correct, and that the affected employees acted against the policy of the company as a public entity.

READ ALSO: REPORTER’S DIARY: Inside Lagos NNPC Station Where One Attendant Sells Fuel and Two Take Bribes

“We read your story published on Saturday, February 4, 2023, and have confirmed that the findings contained in the story were correct. To that effect, the management has taken a decisive action by disengaging the staffers indicted,” Ozuah told FIJ on Thursday.

He further said the station had taken extensive corrective measures to sanitise its operations in compliance with the NNPCL standards.

“If you go to our station now, you will see that we no longer entertain customers bringing containers to buy fuel. Our activity is now better organised. We are a franchise licensed by the NNPCL to sell at a controlled price,” he said.

“Furthermore, we want to give free notebooks to our customers to demonstrate our gratitude for their patronage that has been keeping us in business.”

In the video clips Ozuah sent to FIJ, some customers attest to the fuel station’s service delivery, and a customer said: “This is the only filing station we enjoy in this area.

“Their pricing is correct. Nobody has collected a bribe from me today. However, I saw some attendants collecting extra fee from customers some days earlier, but I think those ones are no more here. Maybe they have sacked them, I don’t know.”

‘NNPCL HAS BLOCKED MY PORTAL‘

Following the report, the top management of the NNPCL deactivated the portal on which the retail station orders petroleum products.

Ozuah told FIJ that the report got to the notice of the controlling agency, prompting it to suspend the station from the platform as an immediate sanction.

“NNPC authorities have seen the story and have taken a disciplinary action against us. If they don’t see an update from you, they might not lift the sanction,” said Ozuah.

“Please, I don’t have much fuel again and I cannot buy again from NNPC. My portal has been blocked.”

The general manager shared a screenshot of the portal with FIJ on Friday. It read, “User account is deactivated. Contact the administrator.”

BRIBERY CONTINUES, BUT IN ANOTHER PATTERN

Early Saturday morning, this reporter was at the filling station to verify the claims of the general manager. He spoke with some customers who explained how the attendants, in cahoot with their bosses, sold lower than the quantity of fuel paid for.

A bike man, who identified as Muhammed, said, “Yes, I just bought fuel from them. I gave them N1,000 for fuel and they sold N900 worth of the product to me.”

Another bike rider explained to this reporter that he paid N50 extra to buy N500 fuel.

To see for myself, I followed a motorcyclist who wanted to purchase petrol from the filling station. Before entering the station, my bike man had told me customers still paid extra money to buy fuel.

To my surprise, the man gave a female attendant N1,500 to sell N1,300 worth of fuel into his motorcycle tank, but the lady sold N1,200 fuel to him and gave him N200.

Leaving the station, the man explained, “That is how they do it now. They no longer speak it, but do it. But it is preferable to what is obtainable at non-NNPC filling stations. Some other stations sell a litre for as much as ₦300.”

To gather more evidence, I boarded a tricycle into the fuel station. The tricyclist gave a bearded salesman man ₦1,500 to sell ₦1,300 worth of fuel.

READ ALSO: Filling Stations Hoarding Petrol, but NNPC Blames Nigerians for ‘Panic-Buying’

I was not surprised this time when the attendant sold ₦1,247 worth of fuel and still deducted another ₦100. The keke napep rider turned to me and asked, “You see now? He didn’t sell up to the amount I asked him to sell but still gave me ₦100 balance.”

I told Ozuah via WhatsApp what I saw and he said, ” I will work on it now.”

FIJ earlier reported how salespersons at the station were collecting bribes from customers as Nigerians face biting shortage of petrol.