The Senate has ordered an investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the gas explosion at Ladipo spare parts market, in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos, which led to the death of at least five persons including a 10-year-old boy.
This came as the Nigeria LPG Association, NLPGA, yesterday, said the explosion was caused by oxyacetylene gas, not cooking gas as widely speculated.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, said only 10 people sustained different degrees of injuries in the incident.
The investigation followed the passage of a motion of urgent public importance moved by the lawmaker representing Lagos West Senatorial District, Senator Solomon Adeola, calling the attention of the Senate to yet another explosion in his Senatorial district resulting in fatalities.
The committees on Petroleum Downstream and Gas was directed to investigate the explosion with a view to preventing future occurrences.
The Senator, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, noted that there has been recurrence of similar explosions in recent times in the same area in his senatorial district, stating it happened in 2016, 2018 (Abule-Egba), 2019 (Abule–Egba) 2020 (Ijegun) and 2020 (Ile-Epo, Oke-Odo), also in 2020 (Abule-Ado), and further stressed that Nigerians resident in all the densely populated areas where these explosions occurred, now live in fear of not only losing properties and investment but their lives and those of loved ones from such explosive fire disasters.
The Senate observed a minute silence in honour of the innocent Nigerians that lost their lives in the inferno and directed NEMA, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to immediately send relief materials to affected victims and offset medical bills of those hospitalized.
But disclosing the cause of the explosion, the Nigeria LPG Association, NLPGA, yesterday, said it was caused by oxyacetylene gas, not cooking gas.
The Executive Secretary of NLPGA, Olakunle Oyebanjo, said: “The accident was not caused by cooking gas as erroneously speculated in many quarters. It happened in an outlet involved in utilizing oxyacetylene for welding.
“Our Safety and Technical Committee is currently working on a report that will be made available to all stakeholders and the public. Until the proper investigation is conducted and concluded, it will not be appropriate to make extensive comments on this matter.”
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers, Mr. Bassey Essien, attributed it to oxyacetylene gas.
Essien said: “Our preliminary findings showed that it was an oxyacetylene gas problem, which culminated in the explosion. Like other stakeholders, we will wait for full completion of the investigation, but it was not caused by cooking gas.”
Meanwhile, the Director-General of LASEMA, Dr. Oke-Osanyintolu, who said only 10 people sustained different degrees of injuries in the gas explosion incident, added that the injured were treated and discharged on the spot by medics.
Oke-Osanyintolu said: “All the 10 injured persons have been treated and discharged on the spot. No other victim is left in any hospital as we speak.”
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