Senate probes Abule-Ado explosion, seeks donations for victims

 

Forty eight hours after the Abule-Ado disaster caused by gas explosion in Amuwo Odofin local government area of Lagos state, the Senate  Tuesday  mandated  its joint Committees on Petroleum (Downstream), (Upstream) and Gas Resources  to carry out thorough investigation of  the remote and immediate causes of the explosion.

This is as the upper legislative chamber urged its members and the federal government to contribute to the N2billion emergency relief fund set up by the Lagos state government.

It also directed that National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to immediately send relief materials to affected victims and offset medical bills of hospitalised ones. 

Resolutions of the senate to this effect followed a motion on urgent need to investigate explosion at Abule-Ado, Lagos, resulting in loss of lives and massive destruction of property, sponsored by Senator Solomon Adeola (APC Lagos West) and two others.

Leading debate on the motion, Senator Adeola said  the explosion which occurred near the Lagos Trade Fair Complex, caused no fewer than 23 deaths, including that of a family of four on their way to a church service as well as the Principal of Bethlehem Girls College, Reverend Sister Henrietta Alokha, who died while rescuing her students. 

The lawmaker regretted that the explosion suspected to have been caused by an articulated vehicle loaded with granites hitting filled gas cylinders or pressuring NNPC pipeline at a point near NNPC’s 2B pipeline right of way, injured hundreds of persons, totally destroyed multi-billion naira properties and businesses including 200 buildings and 2,500 vehicles within a radius of over 40 square meters of the blast in the densely populated neighborhood as well as other collateral destruction many kilometers away. 

Adeola, who raised the motion via Orders 42 and 52 of the Senate’s Rule, stated  that there have been a recurrence of similar explosions in recent times in the same area as happened in 2016, 2018 (Abule-Egba), 2019 (Abule–Egba) 2020 (Ijegun), and 2020 (Ile-Epo, Oke-Odo). 

The lawmaker commended various government establishments and individuals on their prompt roles in putting out the inferno resulting from the explosion and mitigating its spread as well as rescuing victims.

He particularly lauded the Lagos state government for its prompt response to the national disaster, especially by  setting up “Abule-Ado Emergency Relief Fund” worth N2 billion for the victims with initial take off of N200 million. 

In his remarks, the senate president, Ahmad Lawan, recalled that similar incidence occurred sometimes last year and senate took very far reaching 17 resolutions and sent to the Office of the Secretary to Federal Government, OSGF on  November 13, 2019 but regrettably, none of these resolutions have been attended to.

Leave a Reply