Enugu State government has placed a ban on the activities of the state chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) following internal crisis in the body fuelled by cultism and banditry.

The Permanent Secretary, General Administration, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Josephine Onyia disclosed this in a press statement made available to newsmen on Friday in Enugu.

Onyia said that the ban was with immediate effect and would last until the state government gave further notice.

She said that the decision followed the review of the protracted crisis that had engulfed the state chapter.

She said that the crisis had assumed frightening dimensions giving rise to cultism and banditry.

Onyia said that the state government would not stand aloof in the circumstances which had its attendant grave security implications in the state.

She said that a committee comprising the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigeria Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps would be constituted to take charge of the association.

She said that the committee would be in place pending when normalcy would return to the association.

“Members of the public are further reassured that the state government will as always live up to its responsibility of ensuring the security of lives and property within the state,” Onyia said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that there has been alleged leadership tussle in the association by various factions of the group.