The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, yesterday said the Federal Government will do everything possible to compensate victims of Saturday’s gas truck explosion at Ita-Oshin, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The Minister, who disclosed this during an assessment tour of the accident scene, called on stakeholders in the gas industry to prioritise issues of standards and safety, saying that government would not allow the lives of its citizens to be endangered by any body or organisation.
Recall that a gas truck, belonging to Gascon Marine Ltd, Abeokuta, exploded on Saturday and claimed the life of the driver, while about six vehicles and two shops were burnt.
Ekpo, who was in company of the Authority Chief Executive of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, said government’s delegation was in the state to see how to forestall a reoccurrence.
Ekpo, alongside Ogun deputy governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, visited the crash scene, the firm that owned the CNG ill-fated truck, and where wreckage of the vehicles were kept.
Speaking during the visit, the Ekpo said, the country is transiting to use of CNG as an alternative fuel, pointing out that anything that may want to hurt the confidence of the people or make them feel that CNG is not safe to use with the type of accident that happened in Abeokuta and Port Harcourt involving CNG trucks is really a source of concern, saying that “this is why every stakeholder must prioritize the issue of safety”.
He said, “Nigeria gas resources is 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”.