The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, on Wednesday, led a delegation of the Federal Government on a visit to the scene of last Saturday’s tanker gas explosion at Ita-Oshin, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.

The fire accident, which involved a tanker gas truck belonging to Gascon Marine Ltd, Abeokuta, claimed the life of the driver, while about six vehicles and two shops were burnt.

On the delegation was the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed.

The minister’s entourage together with the Ogun State Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, visited the crash scene at Ita-Oshin.

Speaking during the visit, the minister said the country was transiting to the use of CNG as an alternative fuel and that anything that might hurt the confidence of the people or make people begin to feel that CNG was not safe to use with the type of accident that happened in Abeokuta and Port Harcourt involving CNG trucks was a source of concern.

Ekpo said, “Nigeria’s gas resources are up to 208 trillion cubic feet and we have to make use of it in the way that it should be to drive the economy of this nation.

“So, what we are emphasing is maintaining safety standards because anything that falls beyond this won’t be appreciated.

“Like the Deputy Governor was talking when we visited where the cylinders were kept, we saw a crack on it which suggested that it was not up to standard, maybe that was why the force or friction on it made the cylinder to open and if this is not checked and we let our people install this in their vehicles without ascertaining the standards, it will pose a danger to all involved.

“So, this is a wake-up call to each of us, that we should rise to the challenge of the day.

“We must involve the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and the regulators to ensure that whatever is used in our vehicles is up to standard, so that we don’t have a reoccurrence of this type of accident.”

Ekpo said the Federal Government aimed to reduce the transportation of gas by road due to its volatility.

“I have directed the Authority Chief Executive of NMDPRA that for any further issuance of licence, the company should be competent enough to pipe the gas to their end-users so that we are not exposed to this kind of danger,” he said.

Ahmed, on his part, said the agency would continue to collaborate with other agencies of the government to ensure that operators in the oil and gas industry stick to standards.

Ahmed said, “The accident should not discourage us from embracing the use of CNG. It is the way to go and we must all support the transition. Accidents are bound to happen but on our part as regulator, we are working hand-in-hand with Standard Organisation of Nigeria to ensure safety and standards.”

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The Managing Director of Gascon Marine Ltd, Mr Segun Ogunwunmi, during the visit to his company, said the five-year-old company had never been involved in any mishaps as it had always adhered to the highest standards of safety.