The Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, has warned those storing gas cylinders indiscriminately without following safety rules and regulations to desist or face sanctions.
Dr. Oke-Osanyintolu handed down the warning during an assessment visit to the scene of the gas cylinder explosion at the Artists Village within the National Theater Complex in Iganmu, Lagos.
According to Nosa Okunbor, the Head of the Public Affairs Unit-LASEMA, the Permanent Secretary assured that the Lagos State Safety Commission and other relevant stakeholders would unravel the root cause of the gas cylinder explosions and bring anyone found wanting to book.
However, the fire which destroyed several 50 kg gas cylinders, alongside a bungalow comprising three offices, was swiftly curtailed through efforts of the LASEMA Response Team and other responders at the incident scene.
In the same vein, the LASEMA P.S. also visited the site of the petroleum pipeline vandalization at Ile-Opo in the Agbado-Oke-Odo area of Lagos and renewed his appeal to residents to be safety conscious at all times.
While noting that two suspected vandals have been apprehended and handed over to the appropriate authorities, Dr. Oke-Osanyintolu warned against illegitimate activities that could claim the lives and properties of Lagos residents.
Meanwhile, the Executive Vice President at NNPC Downstream, Mr. Dapo Segun, however, assured that Engineers were on the way to fix the vandalized portion of the pipeline.
He also explained that there was no need to panic, stressing that the remnants of AGO in the vandalized pipeline were mixed with water, saying that the line had not been in use for a long time.
Going forward, the Executive Vice President at NNPC Downstream assured that NNPC had plans to bury pipelines deeper to make it virtually impossible to access vandals, just as residents in such communities would be actively involved in securing the pipelines.
Residents of Ifedapo Pipeline CDA and Ese-Odo CDA, speaking through Pastor Adebayo Shotunde solicited for provision of more security per personnel by the federal government to better protect the oil pipelines to avoid future reoccurrence.
