Business
Nigeria’s explosions timeline from 2019
Nairametrics collates a timeline of all the gas explosions that have occurred since 2019.
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.
READ: NNPC raises alarm over low grade, contaminated diesel in the market
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.”
READ: Update: Over 50 buildings destroyed, Gov. Akeredolu reveals cause of explosion
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.”
READ: UPDATED: Helicopter crashes into building in Lagos, claims lives of two crew members
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.”
READ: NNPC reacts to Lagos pipeline explosion
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.
Explore Data on the Nairametrics Research Website
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.
READ: Abule-Ado explosion: Lagos State Government presents cheques to survivors
It was a sad situation as millions of property were lost, putting many people in debt.
Business
BREAKING: Suspected hoodlums looting Palms Mall, Shoprite in Ilorin
Hoodlums have invaded Palms Mall and Shoprite in Ilorin, looting stores and carting away items.
Some suspected hoodlums are allegedly looting the Palms Mall on Fate road, Ilorin, Kwara State capital. The mall hosts stores of Shoprite, and Lifemate Furniture among other stores including Mobile phones retailers.
This was revealed by findings conducted by a Nairametrics analyst who is presently in Ilorin.
He said, “They allegedly stole iPhone 11 mobile sets, other mobile sets brands, Refrigerators, and households items among others.”
According to the analyst, the suspected hoodlums forced their way into the Mall after they have stormed and allegedly looted Kwara Agro Hall, an agro resettlement centre, where they carted away Aluminium roofing sheets, mattresses, bags of cement and bags of flour among others.
Details soon …
Business
#EndSARS: President Buhari reaffirms commitment to protecting the rights of all citizens
President Buhari has reassured that the rights of all citizens will be protected.
President Muhammadu Buhari has restated his commitment to improving good governance and ensuring that the rights of all citizens are protected, in a bid to preserving the unity of Nigeria. He made this known during a virtual meeting with all living former Heads of State and Presidents of Nigeria.
According to a statement by the Presidency via its official Twitter handle, the meeting was well attended by former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Ernest Shonekan; former Heads of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.
The meeting comes less than 24 hours after President Buhari’s state of the nation address, where he called for an end to the #EndSARS protests as their voices have been heard.
Backstory
Nairametrics had earlier reported that President Buhari would be presiding over a National Security Council meeting with former Heads of State and Presidents.
According to the information contained in the tweets, President Buhari stressed that his administration will continue to improve good governance through the defined democratic process and sustained engagement.
During the meeting, the President recounted the initial concessions made by his administration on the demands of youths protesting against the excesses of some SARS members.
Buhari said that all the demands are accepted and that he has proceeded immediately to scrap SARS and commence the process of addressing the other demands made.
Business
Instagram tenders apology for flagging #EndSARS posts as fake
Instagram has apologized for its algorithm malfunction that led to the flagging of #EndSARS posts as fake.
Social media is not just changing the way we communicate, it’s changing the way we are governed and the way we live in society.
Instagram apologizes for its algorithm malfunction that leads to the dismay of its users.
Backstory:
Instagram on the 21st of October flagged a series of posts in support of #EndSARS protest killings, as false information.
Users received messages of, “False: The same false information was reviewed in another post by fact-checkers. There may be small differences. Independent fact-checkers say this information has no basis in fact.”
This came as a huge disappointment to some of its users as the company refused to be of help in a critical time.
The social networking service apologizes, saying that its algorithm incorrectly flagged the posts, “Yesterday our systems were incorrectly flagging content in support of #EndSARS and marking posts as false. We are deeply sorry for this. The issue has now been resolved, and we apologize for letting our community down in such a time of need,” they stated
Yesterday our systems were incorrectly flagging content in support of #EndSARS, and marking posts as false. We are deeply sorry for this. The issue has now been resolved, and we apologize for letting our community down in such a time of need.
— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) October 22, 2020
(READ MORE:#EndSARS: Nigerian Army set to commence Exercise Crocodile Smile VI)
The incident of October 20th took place at the Lekki toll plaza where the Nigerian military shot at several of the youths who were on a peaceful protest seeking an end to police brutality amongst other demands. Amnesty International confirmed that about 12 of the protesters were killed while hundreds of them sustained injures.
What you need to know:
The #EndSARS movement was first introduced in 2017. Its most recent protest started on the 7th of October, youths initiated back the protest to call for the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force.
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