Gas explosions: Lagos Assembly commences investigation

TRACKING___The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Friday, directed its Committee on Special Duties to invite concerned stakeholders and agencies with a view to find lasting solution to incessant gas explosions in the state.

The resolution which was reached at an emergency plenary on Friday was sequel to a notice brought before the House by the member representing Alimosho Constituency 1, Bisi Yusuf, about the explosion that rocked the Baruwa area of Ayobo-Ipaja, in which five lives were lost and several properties destroyed.

Yusuf, while recounting the incident, explained that it was a bad Thursday for the people of Alimosho as the explosion destroyed properties worth millions of naira and also took lives.

The lawmaker noted that the House during the 8th Assembly came up with a resolution condemning the location of gas plants within residential areas but that the resolution was not enforced by the necessary agencies.

The lawmakers condemned the location of gas plants within residential areas, and urged the state’s Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development to desist from granting such approvals.

The House’s Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, while commiserating with the people of Alimosho, especially the bereaved, said the House can no longer allow subsequent loss of lives in such circumstances.

Obasa stressed that the responsibility of the government is to protect lives in particular, adding that properties could be replaced when destroyed but lives are irreplaceable.

“So it is our duty to protect the lives of our people and how do we go about that? We need to get accurate information as to how these gas plants are being approved and how they are being supervised.

“We need to allow our committee on special duties to look into this and engage the necessary and concerned authorities and operators, so that we can get true pictures and what exactly are responsible for these explosions,” Obasa said.

The Committee on Special Duties was subsequently directed to report back to the House in one week.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat has called on business owners and entrepreneurs in the State to always be responsible and mindful of the safety of others while situating their businesses to prevent loss of lives and property.

The Deputy Governor gave the charge, on Friday, when he visited the scene of the Baruwa gas explosion that occurred in the State on Wednesday.

Hamzat who was accompanied on the visit by the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Tayo Bamgbose-Martins and the Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Agency, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the state government would not tolerate any form of carelessness which could jeopardise the health and safety of the people on the part of business owners.

He said, “We are not saying that people should not do business but you must not do it to the detriment of other people.”

Describing the incident as very sad, Hamzat disclosed that the state government will ensure that those in the hospital get the best treatment just as he commiserated with the families of the deceased.

He said government would leave no stone unturned in its effort at getting to the cause of

the explosion, adding that anyone that violates protocol in locating gas stations will be persecuted.