Barely nine months after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) disclosed that Nigeria had witnessed about 45,347 pipeline explosions across the nation, three other explosions (Gas) have rocked Lagos alone, with two of them occurring within two weeks.
Though the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, who made the disclosure, attributed the development to poverty in surrounding communities, community-industry expectation mismatch, and corruption, the last set of incidents were different as they were gas explosions caused by accidents.
The last two gas explosions definitely called for more attention to be paid to either gas storage, especially in residential areas, or the means of transporting the commodity within neighbourhoods.
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In this tracker, Nairametrics collates a timeline of all the gas explosions that have occurred since 2019. This timeline is updated regularly as new information becomes available.
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Lagos was rocked when a gas station exploded in the Baruwa area of Ipaja, Lagos. The explosion, which occurred early on Thursday, has claimed eight lives, razed 25 houses (bungalows) and 16 lock-up shops, according to Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA).
The explosion, according to Director General of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, occurred around 6 am od that day.
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Oke-Osanyintolu said, “The explosion occurred and the agency activated a response plan. Initial disaster assessment is as follows: casualties still being assessed but eight fatalities have been identified so far. 25 houses that are mostly bungalows, 16 lock-up shops and one primary school have been affected.”
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Two weeks earlier, another gas tanker explosion had occurred at the Ifako-Ijaye area of Lagos, with at least 50 people sustaining burn injuries.
It was gathered from a statement by LASEMA that an unidentified truck conveying gasoline had a lone accident and exploded.
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July 7, 2020
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) reported a major explosion in one of its upstream facilities. The explosion incident occurred at Gbetiokun, OML 40, which is operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), on behalf of the NPDC/Elcrest Joint Venture.
The incident was confirmed in a press statement by the Group General Manager Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Dr Kennie Obateru, on Wednesday, July 8, 2020.
He revealed that 7 people were killed in the explosion which occurred during the discharging of Gbetiokun production.
In the statement, Obateru said, “The incident, which occurred on Tuesday during the installation of a ladder on a platform (Benin River Valve Station) for access during discharging of Gbetiokun production, unfortunately caused 7 fatalities.”
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Sunday, March 15, 2020
The Abule-Ado explosion was an accidental explosion and fire that occurred in the Abule-Ado area around Festac Town, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Lagos State. The explosion and fire started around 9 am on Sunday, 15 March, 2020; the fire was extinguished around 11 pm.
According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the incident was caused when a truck rammed into gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant near a vandalised petroleum gas pipeline. The Lagos State Government had reported that 276,000 people were displaced.
The Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) announced that as of 15 March, 2020 the number of casualties was 23 persons and 25 injured persons with 50 houses destroyed. This included the students and the facilities at the Bethlehem Girls College, Abule-Ado which was destroyed.
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March 28, 2020
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu disclosed that the Akure explosion, which erupted early on Saturday morning, was caused by a vehicle in a convoy transporting explosives to a storage facility in a neighbouring state.
The Governor explained through a tweet that the vehicle developed a fault while in transit along the Akure Owo road. He said:
“Security personnel and other individuals transporting the ordinances noticed smoke from the vehicle. After several attempts to extinguish the resulting fire failed, the vehicle and its consignment ignited causing a massive explosion that was felt in Akure and its environs.”
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November 29, 2019
A gas explosion occurred in Ajegunle, Lagos, which claimed lives and dozens of shops.
According to reports, the explosion occurred when a mobile call came in as a gas vendor was filling a cylinder for a customer.
The Director-General of LASEMA, Dr Oke-Osanyintolu, confirmed that “investigations at the scene revealed that the fire ignited as a result of a phone call by an unidentified resident.”
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September 29, 2019
Tragedy struck in the late hours of Sunday, September 29, when 13 shops were razed by fire at Adeshola Street, Agodo Bus Stop, Cele Egbe, in Idimu-Egbe Local Council Development Area, LCDA of Lagos State.
Though no fatality was recorded, two adult males suffered minor injuries and were taken to an undisclosed hospital for further medical attention.
A report by the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) which raced to the scene of the incident, revealed that the affected shops gutted by fire were due to a gas cylinder that exploded in one of the shops.
The fire, which was reported to have emanated from a shop that had several cylinders filled with gas, at about 10.15 pm, escalated to a very high degree quickly, and spread to adjoining structures.
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July 4, 2019
At least two people were killed, with several others injured after a gas pipeline exploded in Lagos.
According to reports, the inferno was caused by vandals who broke open a state-run pipeline in order to steal gas. More than 30 vehicles caught fire, worsening the situation.
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March 21, 2019
This happened on a Thursday afternoon and it was around Babs Animashun area right, in front of Census market in Surulere, Lagos State.
It was a gas explosion that started right inside a building. Due to the proximity of a mechanic shop to the building, several cars were burnt; other shops were not left out by the fire.
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It was a sad situation as millions of property were lost, putting many people in debt.
