Gombe: Residents decry siting of LPG plants in residential areas

Some residents of Gombe Metropolis and environs have expressed safety concerns over the siting of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in residential areas.

A check by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that there had been a proliferation of gas plants and cooking gas retailing outlets in residential areas, especially in Yelenguruza, Federal Low Cost, Bagadaza and Nayinawa.

Some of the residents in separate interviews with NAN on Wednesday said they were afraid in view of gas explosions  and the casualty that followed when such occurred.

Mr Frank Uche, a resident of Yelenguruza said he had noticed that most of the plants located in his area were without the necessary safety measures found in standard gas plants.

Uche said the fear of living close to such, “danger scares me seriously because no one can tell when something will happen but the truth is anything can happen.’’

Malam Ibrahim Yusuf in Federal Low Cost, said “I don’t understand the reason for having these plants in the first place in residential areas. Since it is residential, then it should remain so.’’

Yusuf attributed the proliferation of the gas plants to the non enforcement of the relevant law by the authorities concerned.

He called on the  relevant agencies to act swiftly in order to safeguard the lives of residents exposed to danger.

Mrs Benson Bitrus, a resident of Nayinawa said the manner at which LPG retail outlets were springing up and refilling gas cylinders in residential areas should be given attention by relevant authorities.

“This is dangerous waiting to happen  some day; it is just when we don’t know.

“Cooking gas is good but should be done in an environmentally friendly vicinity where safety is assured,” Bitrus said.

Reacting, Mr Yerima Kollomi, Field Operations Controller, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Gombe state, said DPR as a regulatory agency was not empowered to arrest and prosecute.

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“So, we collaborate with Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and Department of State Security (DSS) to bring those people who are flouting the laws of the land to comply.

“We are making efforts to encourage them to do the needful by submitting themselves to the prescribed procedures establishing those outlets to avoid the safety concern, loss of revenue and total exposure of people to danger.’’

He said that any plant not licensed by DPR was deemed to be non-existing because they were not captured under the DPR platform, adding that those stations were established outside the standard, both technical and statutory requirement.

“This is not to say we are not concerned about the existence of these illegal outlets because they are threats to both the environment and the state.

“We try to engage and to tell them the danger and implication of what they are doing because they don’t observe any safety precaution while operating, which is very dangerous,’’ he said.

Kollomi advised all those operating LPG plants or cooking gas illegally to do the right thing and regularise.

“This is because the most important thing is life first before economic value. Accidents don’t give notice before occurring,’’ he added.