The Gas Explosion in Kaduna

The Gas Explosion in Kaduna

The prompt response of government may have saved the lives of the over 500 persons who were affected by the poisonous gas from a disused gas cylinder in Kaduna, when a local welder cut it open.
According to media reports, a local blacksmith who deals in old metals popularly called scrap, Sokejon Enterprises Ltd, had contracted the services of the local welder to cut the old cylinder into pieces so it can be sold. No sooner had the welder cut open the cylinder than a harsh offensive odour emitted from it.

The warm evening breeze helped to spread the fouled air far into the DIC Road neighbourhood which is a densely populated Kaduna suburb. Almost all those who inhaled the poisonous gas collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital. The cylinder had been used to store Chlorine gas.

While we express some relief that the pollution did not lead to casualty, we are disturbed that the management of the Sokejon Enterprises Ltd, did not display much safety consciousness. If the company had checked, for instance, what substance the cylinder had been used to store, it probably would have realised the risk associated with cutting it open in a purely residential district.

The incident raises the issue of the need to confirm the kind of businesses that can be allowed to take place in residential areas. Surely, not all kinds of businesses are suitable in residential areas. But poor law enforcement has led to the siting of all manner of business ventures in and around homes. In many cities, purely residential areas have been turned into business or even industrial areas. The result is that several people suffer high degree of pollution—noise, air and even water.
Many a neighbourhood are suffused, for instance, with the offensive odour of poultry farms owned by either neighbours or business men, who care little about the side effect of their trade on others.

Governments are in place to serve as check for such breaches. But over the years, the general collapse of society’s values has led to compromises and negligence, some of which are a product of the Kaduna poisonous gas saga.
Worse, grinding poverty and desperation to make ends meet has pushed people into all manner of businesses. The motivation behind the decision to cut thick steel of a gas cylinder into pieces to be sold as scrap cannot be not far-fetched.

However, we are impressed with the prompt response of both the Federal and State governments in handling the case. It is noteworthy that the Federal Government has swiftly awarded contracts for the setting up of Chemical Emergency Response Centres in four cities: Kaduna, Lagos Port Harcourt and Abuja. The centres, according to the Environment minister, John Odey, will provide officials of the Ministry at the state and federal level, the capacity and know-how to deal with chemical pollution emergencies.

This is commendable. But we hope the swiftness of the birth of the idea will not be wasted and defeated by official bureaucracy. We urge the Kaduna state Government to liaise with relevant security agencies to ensure that the fleeing scrap dealer and local welder are not only apprehended, but also prosecuted and be made to bear the cost of treatment of the victims.

FRM:Thisday