Oil and gas expert and prominent Nigerian businessman Chief Shina Luwoye has sounded the alarm about syndicates’ ongoing involvement in the diversion of petroleum products, adulteration of gas and harmful residential gas practices in Ogun State and other Southwest transit corridors.
This information was shared by the energy expert in Abeokuta during a Thursday courtesy visit to the offices of Ecogas Energy Resources Limited by executive members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogun State Council.
He claims that renegade tanker drivers colluding with local criminals to steal or compromise petroleum shipments in transit is known as illicit product syphoning, or “truck parties” among cartels.
Despite Ecogas’s fleet being protected by rigorous tracking and monitoring technologies, he said, unregulated actions along key highway corridors continued to pose a serious threat to society at large.
The renowned locations for criminal activities, according to the Mayegun of Egbaland, include the Ogere corridor, the Ijebu-Ode axis for products heading north, and the Ore stretch for supplies moving east and central southwest from the Dangote Refinery.
He bemoaned the fact that local populations knew everything about the illegal operations, but the proper government officials were often in the dark. To make matters worse, transport unions would protect their members who were found guilty when they were denounced, adding insult to injury.
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“These are things that are going on that people in the communities know, but the government may not know that such illegalities are happening.”The unions will go to great lengths to conceal the accusations made against its members. Someone needs to raise the alarm so we can deal with it; it has turned into an open secret’, he said.
Concerning the safety of Nigerian households, he issued a stern warning about the persistence of outdated and tainted Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders, comparing them to “ticking time bombs” that may detonate catastrophic explosions within houses.
He made the analogy that many locals will continue to drive on expired tires even though they have not yet burst, since they assume that a cylinder that looks working or has been recently painted is safe to do so.
He requested that the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) authorise and support private companies to set up local cylinder revalidation, calibration, and pressure-testing facilities so that the risk could be mitigated without putting more financial strain on the general public.
On the other hand, he voiced his disapproval of port bottlenecks and the various regulatory levies imposed by SON, the Ministry of Environment, and EIA bodies, pointing out that 100 percent import duties and months of cargo delays could discourage investment in safety infrastructure.
He reminded people to change their gas hoses and camp burners annually, saying that the cylinders themselves aren’t the most common source of gas leaks in homes.
The visit was intended to familiarise the chapel with the organization, appreciate its contributions to the energy sector, and explore areas of mutual collaboration, particularly in promoting public awareness and economic development, according to Comrade Yetunde Fatungase, Chairman of the NUJ Correspondents’ Chapel.