fuel explodes, kills man, two daughters

 

According to eyewitness account, the task force officials had tried to restore sanity, but were repelled by the dealers, who were also struggling to buy fuel to sell to desperate motorists.

An eyewitness who identified himself as Kelvin said: “The operatives had tried in vain to confiscate some of the products already purchased by these black market dealers. “The dealers teamed up to resist any attempts either to arrest them or to give away their products to motorists free of charge.

  “In the process, the operatives started firing indiscriminately into the air to dispel them but things went awry, thus exacerbating an already tense situation that led to the shooting of Dijo and three other persons. Immediately the incident happened, angry youths quickly mobilised to retaliate but the operatives were already whisked away to safety. “The mob made bonfire, even as the corpse of deceased was dumped on the road by the protesters. “They made attempts to set the filling station on fire, but were prevented by teams of policemen deployed from both the FESTAC Police Division and the Area E Police Command.

” The state Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, however debunked claims that policemen shot and killed the victim. She said: “There is no case of such. The report on ground at AP filling station is that some NSCDC men in a patrol vehicle had scuffle with some men at the filling station which led to indiscriminate firing. “One person was shot dead while three others were severely injured. The area commander, Area E, is on ground restoring normalcy, while the command has commenced investigation to identify the civil defence operatives that were involved.” In Ogun State, operatives of NSCDC yesterday picketed fuel dealers who sell the product above the official pump price of N86.50k within the Abeokuta metropolis.

 The NSCDC officials, who were armed, began their operation around 9 a.m. and invaded some of the filling stations, noted for dispensing the product above the official pump price. While attendants at two filling stations who deliberately hoarded the product were arrested, three other filling stations which had the product but refused to sell were compelled to resume sales. At Ita – Eko, workers at the MAAN IPC filling station, which got product the previous night, took to their heels upon sighting the NSCDC anti – hoarding task force to escape being forced to dispense to customers.

About three of the workers were however, arrested few hours later by the NSCDC officials who had laid siege for them to resurface. They were compelled to sell to motorists, who had been waiting anxiously.

Tragedy struck in Somolu area of Lagos State on Tuesday, following the death of a father and her two daughters after a fuel induced explosion in their home. The incident, which happened at No. 5, Adeniyi Street, Somolu Oja, also razed the property. The deceased man was identified as Shade Aduwo and his two daughters, 16-yearold Adura and 18-year-old Mistura. It was learnt that the explosion was caused by stored Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, which caught fire. Confirming the incident, Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasaq Fadipe said:

 “The Somolu scene of fire as we gathered was that the family was cooking close to the place they stored fuel. The fire somehow entered the keg of fuel and it exploded, killing all three family members who were nearby. 

Source: National mirror