PUNCH
Nigerians have expressed concerns over the safety of the Compressed Natural Gas converted vehicles following recent explosions involving some vehicles. They raised questions about the safety standards and regulatory oversight of the conversions.
In May, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, led a delegation of the Federal Government on a visit to the scene of a CNG truck explosion at Ita-Oshin, Abeokuta, Ogun State. The truck belonging to Gascon Marine Limited exploded and claimed one life, while about six vehicles and two shops were burnt.
Ekpo also cited a second explosion, which he said involved another CNG-powered vehicle in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The latest explosion in Benin, Edo State, caught the attention of many Nigerians who were considering converting their petrol-powered vehicles to CNG.
The Edo incident, which occurred at a NIPCO CNG station at Ikpoba Hill, left two people injured.
According to NIPCO Gas, the cylinder installed in the vehicle was later identified as a fake, fabricated, substandard unit not designed for CNG, adding that it exploded after refill with around four standard cubic metres of gas.
The driver was said to have fled the scene immediately after the incident that left two persons injured.
“While no fatalities were recorded, two individuals sustained injuries. One person suffered a leg injury, and another sustained an eye injury. Based on the attending doctor’s recommendation, one of the individuals will require surgery at a different hospital. Our team is ensuring they receive the necessary care and treatment,” NIPCO Gas said in a statement made available to our correspondent.
Worry over CNG
Nigerians expressed concerns over how safe CNG is particularly in a country like Nigeria where extreme weather conditions and poor vehicle maintenance can exacerbate safety issues.
Speaking to Saturday PUNCH, a commercial driver, Sunday Adewuyi said, “First, I don’t have money to do such a conversion but even if I have, I will not do it because I can’t risk an explosion. You know the type of sun we have in this country; one day one’s boot will explode. I don’t want such to happen to me.”
Another driver in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Udo Anefiok, said the risks were too high.
“I don’t plan to convert my taxi because I am aware of the risk. They said it is not like normal gas but my brother, gas is gas. I cannot risk my life,” he stated.
Netizens also took to X (formerly Twitter) to express worry over the safety of adoption of CNG-powered vehicles.
An X user, Ahmed Abubakar, said, “Isn’t it enough that we have had even one explosion? How many explosions do we need to see before you all agree that CNG is not safe, at least for us? Never once in my 30+ years have I known a fuel-powered car to explode just like that. It’s not safe, not practical, not realistic.”
“That CNG car explosion isn’t shocking to me at all. There will certainly be many more too. You don’t deploy something like this en masse to a country where there is zero regard for safety without putting any comprehensive mitigation measures to avoid this kind of accident”, another user, Deji Balogun, said.
Chidi Okereke warned motorists to be careful before attempting to use CNG vehicles.
He warned, “If your car is not factory-fitted with the CNG component, you just might be driving a bomb. Please consider your loved ones and the people in the possible explosion radius.”
“This CNG thing is so dangerous, judging by eye test. Then there’s the bad roads factor, which means the gas cylinder will more often than not be bouncing in the boot of the car. Then talk about our relatively hot temperature. A perfect recipe for a gas explosion, if you ask me”, Kunle Olaitan, said.
Another X user, Onyinye, said, “I think those people that will be putting CNG cylinders in their cars should have a separate lane on the road provided by the government. So that gas leaks or explosions can just be on one side and the rest of us can go our merry way”.
