The Senate has ordered an investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the gas explosion at Ladipo Spare Parts Market, in Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos, which led to the death of at least 5 persons including a 10 years old boy.

This followed the passage of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Senator Solomon Adeola, APC Senator, representing Lagos West Senatorial district of the State, calling the attention of the Senate to yet another explosion in his Senatorial district resulting in fatalities.

The Senate directs its committees on Petroleum Downstream and Gas to investigate the explosion with a view to preventing future occurrences.

The Senator, in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Chief Kayode Odunaro, noted that there has been a recurrence of similar explosions in recent times in the same area in his senatorial district as happened in 2016, 2018 (Abule-Egba), 2019 (Abule–Egba) 2020 (Ijegun) and 2020 (Ile-Epo, Oke-Odo), also in 2020 (Abule-Ado), stressing 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 and those of love ones from these frequent explosive fire disasters.

The Senate observed a minute silence in honour of the innocent Nigerians that lost their lives in the inferno and directed NEMA, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development to immediately send relief materials to affected victims and offset medical bills of those hospitalized.

‘Ladipo market explosion caused by acetylene gas’

The Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers (LPGAR), branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has said that Tuesday’s explosion at Ladipo Spare Part Market, Lagos was caused by acetylene gas.

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

Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C₂H₂. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in its pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.

It was reported that five persons were killed in the explosion which occurred 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 the spread of its inferno based on the level of gas leakage and spread.