Eyewitnesses have said that the ongoing road project in Ikeja caused the Wednesday morning gas leakage which sent panic across the state.
At the scene of the gas leak which is under Ikeja bridge, some houses and shops along the road had been partially demolished. It was gathered that the government plans to expand the road, hence the gas leakage in the morning.
Also, at the scene, there was the presence of the Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Army, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Fire Service, Manufacturing Association of Nigeria Fire Department, among others.
One of the eyewitnesses said; “I am a trader here and to my own knowledge, this is the first time something like this would happen. They said they wanted to widen the road so they demolished some structures. While they were doing that, I think they made a mistake and hit a pipeline and it was not repaired. They are still doing the road rehabilitation.
“People always trade here and nothing like this has ever happened. This is the first time this kind of thing will happen. This particular place that it happened is where my mother sells her wares and I also assist her. The leakage has affected our business immensely.”
Speaking on the efforts made by the Lagos State Fire Service, an Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Services, who refused to reveal his name stated that the matter was under control.
“As you can see, it is a gas leakage, we received the call past 7 am this morning. They informed us that there was a gas leakage under the bridge in Ikeja so we quickly activated our men and when we got to the scene, we discovered the area where the gas is coming out from. We quickly evacuated the people and cordon the environment so that there would not be any obstruction. The white substance on the ground is called Chemical Foam Compound. It is what we use to blanket the surface, this will neutralise the leakage so that there would not be an occurrence of fire outbreak.
“I have our men moving around to educate the people in the environment so that they can suspend anything that has to do with naked fire so that it does not jeopardise our efforts. MAN fire service is here to complement our effort so that is what we have done here for now. We have called the people in charge of the gas line and we have been assured that it has been shut so that there is no passage of gas through the line. However, there is no way we will not perceive it due to the one left in the pipeline. We are on top of the situation,” he said. (Punch)