THE MENACE OF GAS EXPLOSIONS

Regulators could do more on issues of safety

It is worrisome that gas has progressively become the source of death and bodily injuries for users and innocent bystanders. A Christmas Day gas explosion at a vulcaniser’s shop in Kpakungun, a suburb of Minna, Niger State, last week resulted in one death and two injuries. Relevant authorities need to organise sensitisation programmes for all gas retail outlets on how to operate their business with minimal risk to themselves and the public.

With the skyrocketing price of petrol following removal of subsidy, the federal government recently unveiled a programme for the conversion of vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to lessen the economic hardship in the country. But there are growing concerns about the issue of safety, especially in an environment where unscrupulous businesspeople abound. The policy was announced with little or no thought about implications, nor has there been any sensitisation on the implications of gas usage in the country.

 It is unfortunate that despite repeated warnings by the Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) on the need for stringent enforcement of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) standards, the harvest of death continues as more and more Nigerians fall victims of gas explosion. The list of fatalities is long and growing and most of them caused by human error. Some few years ago, a chlorine cylinder exploded at the Plateau State Water Board treatment plant at Lamingo, Dogon Karfe, Jos South Local Government Area, leaving eight people dead, among them a pregnant woman and children. Dozens of others sustained varying degrees of injuries. Leakage at the plant was responsible for the deaths as residents around the area inhaled the poisonous gas which enveloped the entire neighbourhood.

 Also of increasing concerns are gas explosions of the domestic kind. Incessant domestic gas explosions because of leaking cylinders are on the rise across the country. Ironically, this is coming amid intense campaigns on the need for Nigerians to drop kerosene for gas as a cleaner means of cooking. In recent times, fatal explosions have been reported in Akwa Ibom, Lagos and Jigawa States, killing dozens of people. In one of the incidents, the gas escaped into the air and got to a fire point where a lady was operating a restaurant, killing and injuring many people. Another gas explosion at Arakale market in Akure, Ondo State last year was traced to an illegal gas re-filling plant which wounded many and razed many shops.

There are several of such tragic stories. In an incident that is typical of the carelessness often associated with many homes, a female domestic help in Epe, Lagos, once turned on the gas and left to chat outside. By the time she returned to light up the gas, the kitchen was suffused with chemical. The resultant fire and explosion sent her and neighbours scampering for safety. At least 24 people suffered various degrees of burns. In yet another, a retail outlet was discharging gas from a big cylinder without safety measures.

 Similarly, it is also important to educate households on the need to gradually replace their metal gas cylinders with fibre cylinders, said to be highly fire-resistant. For several years, that has been the promise to phase out and replace  the gas cylinders in circulation with more advanced ones. It will also help if distributing and marketing firms own the cylinders as against individuals as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) once suggested. Some households have been using the same cylinder for upwards of two decades. It is a dangerous practice.