Senate orders probe of Ladipo gas explosion
By Peter Usman://
Senate has ordered an investigation into the remote and immediate causes of Tuesday gas explosion at a domestic Liquified Petroleum Gas, LPG sale point at the Ladipo Spare Parts Market in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State that led to the death of at least five persons.
Resolution of the upper legislative chamber followed the consideration of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Senator Solomon Adeola (APC Lagos West) during yesterday’s plenary presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.
Senator Adeola, while presenting the motion, noted that there has been a recurrence of similar explosions in recent times in the same area in his senatorial district as happened in 2016, 2018 (Abule-Egba), 2019 (Abule-Egba) 2020 (Ijegun), and 2020 (Ile-Epo, Oke-Odo), 2020 (Abule Ado).
He said that Nigerians resident in all the densely populated area where these explosions occurred now live in fear of not only losing properties and investments, but their lives or those of love ones from frequent explosive fire disasters.
According to him, the explosion caused the deaths of three adult male, a woman and a 10-year-old boy who died in the hospital before medical attention could be rendered while 10 other victims were rescued and treated on the spot for injuries.
He added that the explosion, suspected to have been caused by fire close to gas cylinders at the sale point also led to destruction of properties, including six lock-up shops, 10 houses, vehicles and motorcycles in the vicinity.
Senator Adeola, however, commended officers and men of National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA and the Lagos State Fire Service on their prompt roles in putting out the inferno resulting from the explosion and mitigating its spread as well as rescuing the victims.
Accordingly, the Senate directed it’s Committees on Petroleum Downstream and Gas to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the explosion and report back with a view to avoid future occurrences.
Similarly, it directed NEMA and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to immediately send relief materials to affected victims and offset medical bills of hospitalised victims.
The upper legislative chamber also resolved to write a condolence letter to the people and government of Lagos State on the deaths arising from the explosion while it also observed a minute silence in honour of the deceased Nigerians.