The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Eket office says it had discovered 50 illegal filling stations in the state.

Mr Tamunoiminabo Kingsley-Sundaye, the Operations Controller of DPR in Akwa Ibom made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket on Monday.

He explained that the illegal filling stations refused to obtain Federal Government licenses nor follow due process in their construction.

He added that the filling stations were built without appropriate approval by the department in the state.

“There are 50 illegal filling stations in the state. We have come to a point in this country where people have decided to do things that are wrong.

“When I resume a year ago, we observed that there are some fuel stations that are built without appropriate approvals from the department,” he said.

He said that when building filling stations, there are things that are considered such as engineering design, safety, earth considerations and social economy of the area.

He condemned marketers that build filling stations that share boundaries with markets, schools, hospitals, saying that such stations would affect the economy of the area.

He warned marketers that site filling stations before coming to DPR for consideration to desist from it.

He said that the department had sensitised the marketers who are involved to come to DPR office for reassessment and appropriate documentation.

“We have compiled those names and send them to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) to take appropriate actions,” he said.

Kingsley-Sundaye said that the department was working with law enforcement agencies and the state government to dismantle illegal filling stations in the state.

“We will work with the state government to dismantle illegal filling stations in the state and the department was working towards getting rid of those stations,” Kingsley-Sundaye said.

He noted that owners of such stations have violated the Petroleum Act of 1969 which says that nobody can sell or store Petroleum product in Nigeria without federal government license.