The Federal Government on Wednesday ordered the Department of Petroleum Resources to identify and shutdown unlicensed liquefied petroleum gas stations across the country.
It said the directive to eradicate illegal stations that dispense LPG, popularly called cooking gas, was as a result of the recent Kaduna gas station explosion that led to the loss of lives.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, ordered the DPR to work with other agencies to shut down such illegal gas stations nationwide.
The Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources conveyed the minister’s order in a statement issued in Abuja.
The statement stated, “The minister has directed the DPR in collaboration with other relevant agencies to establish a nationwide surveillance team to intensify the identification and eradication of illegal and unlicensed gas sales operators, as well as imposing hefty fines and prosecuting erring marketers.”
According to the ministry, Sylva gave the directive noting that the findings of the investigation into the Sabon Tasha, Kaduna gas explosion incident revealed that the unfortunate event occurred while an unlicensed LPG sales attendant was decanting LPG into smaller cylinders.
Sylva assured Nigerians that their safety while using LPG or in any other endeavour was of utmost importance to government.
He expressed sadness over the gas explosion in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State last week Saturday.
The minister described the occurrence as tragic and immediately ordered investigations by a combined team of officials of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and DPR into the incident.
The statement added that Sylva had also directed his protocol team to schedule him for a visit to the place of the incident and to the bereaved families and the hospitalised victims.
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