Four persons were on Monday
killed after an explosion hit the jetty of the Petroleum Wharf, Apapa, Lagos
State.
It was gathered that a vessel,
identified as Histria Ivory, was discharging Premium Motor Spirit (petrol)
around 3am when some hoodlums besieged it to scoop fuel spilling from the
vessel, which resulted in the death of four people.
Officials of the Lagos State
Emergency Management Agency, men of the Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire
Service, Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigerian Navy were said to have been
called when the jetty’s in-house fire unit could not handle the inferno.
The Director of the Lagos State
Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, who confirmed the explosion, said he could not tell
if there was any casualty.
He said, “A vessel was
discharging fuel and the manifold caught fire, which led to an explosion.
“The jetty in-house fire unit
responded first, before calls were made to other fire agencies. We all battled
the fire and put it out.”
The Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, in a statement on Monday, said the fire was caused by hoodlums who
interrupted the discharge of fuel.
A statement, which was signed by
the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu,
assured motorists and other consumers of petroleum products nationwide that the
fire would not affect the supply of petroleum products.
He said, “The NNPC has deployed a
team of engineers in the jetty, while the repair of the affected parts will
commence immediately.
“The fire was caused by the
activities of hoodlums who were scooping fuel spilled from ships discharging
fuel at the jetty.
“NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr
Maikanti Baru, who has been fully briefed on the incident, described the
occurrence as unfortunate, assuring the public that the NNPC has more than
1.6bn litres of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise called petrol, enough to last
for 48 days.”
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