Retailers blame acetylene gas for Ladipo market explosion as Senate orders probe

The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers (LPGAR), branch of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), says Tuesday’s explosion at Ladipo Spare Part Market, Lagos was caused by acetylene gas while the Senate ordered a probe of the situation.

Its National Secretary, Mr Olukayode Solomon, made the clarification in a statement issued on Wednesday in Lagos while commiserating with the families of the victims of the explosion.

Five persons were killed in the explosion which occured at an acetylene gas retailing outlet located at No. 33/35 Ojekunle St., Ladipo Spare Part Market, Lagos.

Solomon noted that the incident was not in anyway related to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is popularly called cooking Gas.

He said: “It is important to state clearly that the outlet in which the explosion occurred was specifically an acetylene gas outlet.

“Acetylene gas is an industrial gas used for welding, cutting and other related industrial activities.

“Acetylene gas is often sold alongside oxygen gas which is equally an industrial gas.

“The explosions of these industrial gasses often cause wide scale destruction similar to military bombs unlike LPG explosion which often causes inferno.”

According to him, damage arising from LPG explosion usually comes as a result of spread of its inferno based on the level of gas leakage and spread.

“On the contrary, industrial gasses such as acetylene and oxygen usually pull down structures around the scene of the explosion because of the high pressure of the industrial gasses as well as the very heavy weight of the industrial gas cylinders.

“Also, acetylene and oxygen gasses do not use the same cylinders used for LPG as exemplified by the type of cylinders that littered around the scene of the explosion yesterday.

“It is equally important to note that acetylene and oxygen gasses are not derived from the same sources as LPG, ” Solomon said.

He further explained that they were also are not regulated by the same agency that regulates LPG.

Solomon noted that LPG was derived from petroleum and natural gas and regulated by the former Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) now replaced with Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

“The regulation of acetylene gas, oxygen gas and the other related gasses is presently located within the federal ministry in charge of industry.

“These clarifications have become necessary to forestall further misrepresentation of facts whenever an explosion relating to gas occurs.

“We equally use this opportunity to implore the media as a whole to always seek clarifications before publication.

” This is because this particular misrepresentation has been a regular occurrence in the recent time,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Senate has ordered a probe of the situations surrounding the explosion.

Presenting the motion, Senator Olamilekan Adeola said the “The Senate notes that in the early hours of Tuesday, November 16th, 2021 around 8.30 am, a gas explosion occurred at a domestic Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) sale point at 21, Ojekunle Street in the Ladipo Spare Parts Market area in densely populated Mushin LGA, Lagos State;  

“Further Notes that the explosion caused no fewer than 5 deaths comprising of three adult male, a woman and a 10-year-old boy who died in the hospital before medical attention could be rendered while 10 people were rescued and treated on the spot for injuries according to emergency agencies that promptly responded to the inferno;  

“Informed that the explosion, suspected to have been caused by fire close by gas cylinders at the sale point leading to deaths and destruction of properties including 6 lock up shops, 10 houses, vehicles and motorcycles in the vicinity of the blast at the sale LPG sale point;  

“Aware that there has been a recurrence of similar explosions in recent times in the same area in my senatorial district as happened in 2016, 2018 (Abule-Egba), 2019 (Abule – Egba) 2020 (Ijegun), and 2020 (Ile-Epo, Oke-Odo), 2020(Abule Ado).”

According to Adeola, the Senate is “worried that Nigerians resident in all the densely populated area where these explosions occurred now live in fear of not only losing properties and investment but their lives or those of love ones from these frequent explosive fire disasters”.