By Michael-Azeez Ogunsiji, ABEOKUTA
Against the backdrop of increasing number of illegal gas outlets across the state, Ogun state office of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday disclosed that it has sealed – off no fewer than 19 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) filling plants within the past two weeks.
DPR’s Operations Controller in Ogun, Mrs. Muinat Bello-Zagi disclosed this to journalists in Abeokuta, the state capital shortly after the agency’s meeting with the state chapter of LPG Skid Owners Association.
She explained that four operators were also arrested during the agency’s surveillance of the LPG plants in Magboro, Isheri-Olofin, Sango and particularly, those operating in the Epe axis along the Lagos -Ogun border.
Bello-Zagi explained that the shut 19 LPG filling plants were those operating without the agency’s approval as well as those who flouted the safety standards set by the agency, while those arrested were among the operators that broken the DPR’s sealon their plants.
Explaining that those arrested have been handed over to officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) for prosecution, Bello-Zagi further said that DPR would not relent in its efforts until safety lapses noticed are totally eradicated
She also vowed that DPR would ensure that operators of unapproved gass filling stations are arrested and prosecuted as monitoring and surveillance by the agency is a daily routine.
In his own comment, state chairman of LPG Skid Owners’ Association, Alhaji Bada Adebisi vowed that the association would henceforth, begin to police its members in order to ensure that the safety regulations reeled out by DPR was not compromised.
Bada, who noted that “new rules” were daily evolving from the regulatory agency, however, advocated for a body that would be championing the case of the LPG Skid owners to enable them remain in business.
Bada also lamented the challenges of dealing with multiple agencies which he alleged were all duplicating functions aside from the DPR.