Illegal gas refilling plant sealed off in Lagos

An illegal plant refilling Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) cylinders under high-tension wires in Lagos has been sealed off by the Department of Petroleum Resources, (DPR).

The Banner Gas LPG refilling plant, located in Lekki Phase I, was shut down during a surveillance operation on Tuesday, in collaboration with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

The Zonal Operations Controller, Lagos, DPR, Mr Ayorinde Cardoso, who led the DPR team, said the gas plant was being operated without a licence from the agency and under high-tension wires, which he described as dangerous.

Cardoso noted that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had declared 2020 as the year of gas “but we want to make sure that all operators in this line of business operate in line with the rules and regulations”.

“We don’t want the market to be compromised by sharp practices,” he said, adding that the DPR had steeped up surveillance in a bid to weed out illegal activities.