The Nigerian 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 about five persons including a 10-year-old boy.
This came as the Nigeria LPG Association (NLPGA) yesterday, opined that the explosion was caused by oxyacetylene gas, not cooking gas as widely speculated.
However, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) stated that only 10 people sustained various degrees of injuries in the gas explosion.
The investigation was followed by 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 injuries and death.
The committees on Petroleum Downstream and Gas was directed to probe the explosion with the vision to prevent future happenings.
The Senator, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, noted that there has been a 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 Nigerian resident in all 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.
However, 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.
