Lagos State Govt To Go After Retail Gas Operators Flouting Safety Regulations

The Lagos State Government has vowed to go after retail gas operators in the state who do not adhere to safety regulations in their operation.

The Director-General of Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Mojola, who stated this while speaking at the opening ceremony of Oil and Gas Stakeholders’ Safety Summit, which held in Ikeja, with the theme: “Safe Retail Gas Operation in Lagos State”, noted that the outlets of such operators would be shut down.

Represented at the event by the Technical Adviser of the Commission, Seun Awojobi, Mojola said that the summit was aimed at training operators on how to handle Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in better and safer ways.

“We know of past incidents that had happened, some ranging from industrial to residential accidents where several lives were lost and the Safety Commission’s mandate is to ensure that the lives and property of all residents in the State are safe and protected,” a statement by the Commission quoted Mojola as saying.

“Event like this is designed to bring the practitioners in the liquefied gas sector together and train them on best practices around the usage of gas and see how we can guide against gas explosions and loss of more lives.”

The Director-General explained that the state government has identified about 2,500 gas retail outlets across the state and is working with these operators to rid the state of marketers who do not adhere to safety regulations.

Mojola said: “The government has done the enumeration on retail gas outlets in Lagos with the intent of scaling up their safety measures for the ones that are open to scaling. For others that we believe will pose harm or danger to the environment, we are shutting them down”.

Lagos State has witnessed quite a number of gas explosion incidents. In April 2021, there was gas explosion at a retail outlet in Agboju area of Oriade Local Council Development Area, which led to some residents sustaining minor injuries while trying to put out the fire. Also in October 2020, in Baruwa area of Iyana Ipaja, gas explosion occurred, which claimed eight lives, got many injured and destroyed about 89 shops and 44 buildings.

Mojola maintained that the summit was designed to further prevent avoidable incidents with more training and enlightenment for operators and stakeholders.