Ogun DPR seals 19 LPG plants, arrest Four persons — Controller

The Department of Petroleum Resources in Ogun says it has sealed no fewer than 19 Liquefied Petroleum Gas plants and skid for failure to adhere to safety standards and operating without approval.
The Operations Controller of DPR, Abeokuta Field Office, Muinat Bello-Zagi, made this known on Monday at a stakeholders meeting with members of LPG Skid Owners Association, Ogun chapter in Abeokuta.
Bello-Zagi boss said that the department carried out the operation during its two-week safety surveillance of LPG plants in Mowe, Magboro, Abeokuta, Sagamu, Isheri-Olofin and Ijebu-Ode.
She said that four persons were also arrested and handed over to Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps personnel.
According to her, the affected gas plants were discovered to be either be operating without licence and approval or failed to abide by the stipulated DPR safety standards.
She said that the DPR, with the mandate of regulating and monitoring oil and gas sector in Nigeria, would continue to engage gas plant operators in the state on the need to adhere strictly to safety standards.
Bello-Zagi further said that each of the three operators would pay N1 million penalty for breaking the DPR seal.
She said: “DPR will continue to to ensure that gas plant owners and skid operators in the state abide strictly to our safety standards. This is because DPR has zero tolerance for safety lapses.
“In two weeks, our surveillance team was able to seal up 19 LPG plants and skid outlets across the state, for operating without licence or approval.
“Others were sealed for not abiding by safety standards as laid down by the department. Some were located very close to ignition source; under high tension wire, while some are located close to bakeries.
“In fact, some skid outlets will be dismantled because they contravened DPR safety procedure which stipulates that a skid should be constructed on a minimum of two plots of land and observation of at least 15-metre distance to any source of ignition.
“As a Department, we will continue to engage stakeholders in this sector to ensure the safety of lives and property.”
In his remark, the state chairman of the association, Alhaji Suraju Bada, commended the DPR for organising such a meeting.
Bada expressed the readiness of the association to collaborate with the department to ensure safety.
He said that the association had set up a committee to look into the safety of their business ventures and maintained that the DPR remained their watchdog.
ada, however, decried multiple taxation and extortion by various government agencies and urged government to take the necessary action to address the situation.