Asaba Residents Protest ‘Illegal’ Erection of Gas Plant in Neighbourhood

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Residents of Imade Osazee Street in the Delta State Capital of Asaba have petitioned the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) following the alleged illegal siting and erection of a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) within their area

The residents stressed that they were left with no option than to cry out to the world now that the construction of the gas has reached an advanced stage, especially in the light of the devastating experience of LPG explosion recently in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area.

In the petition, whose receipt was formally acknowledged by the office of the Delta State Coordinator of NMDPRA in Warri, Solicitors to the aggrieved residents of the street, PJ Eleweke and Partners, noted that the gas plant sited behind/with A.A. RANO filling station violated the 5 metres distance in the relevant law.

The petitioners expressed fear that the legal guidelines and regulations for the siting of LPG in Nigeria might have been flouted in the instant case owing to the alleged influence of the owners of the gas plant and filling station within the same premises.

The residents, therefore, urged the NMDPRA State Coordinator to urgently intervene by investigating and taking appropriate actions to stop the current construction of the illegal LPG plant to forestall what they termed “the impending time bomb should any explosion occur in the operation of the illegal LPG plant”.

A resident in the area, who did not want his name in print, said: “The petrol station and LPG plant, apart from being built in a densely populated residential area, is also directly in front of the Infant Jesus Schools that accommodates hundreds of students in the boarding facility.

“It is inherently a potential danger to build such facilities close to residential areas, more so a public school of this magnitude.”

Copied by the petitioners are the Governor of Delta State, Chief Executive of NMDPRA,  Aliyu Mohammed, the Commissioner, Delta State Ministry of Oil and Gas, Chief Peter Uviejotobor, Commissioner for Environment, Ejiro Jamani, Asaba Capital Territory Development Agency and the Council Chairman of Oshimili South Local Government Area.