There are not less than 25 petroleum tank farms now in operation at Ijegun, Satellite town area of Lagos State, Shipping Position Daily recent investigations has revealed.
This is even as residents of the community would by May 2018 commemorate the 10th anniversary of the famous Ijegun fire disaster and pipeline explosion that claimed the lives of at least 100 people; destroyed 15 homes and dozens of vehicles in 2008.
A resident of the area and ex-vice chairman Satellite Town Central Resident Association; Mazi Tony Ohakwe told our correspondent recently that the number of petroleum tankers trooping into the densely populated residential area has tripled.
According to him, “More land have been acquired by tank farms investors and the number of tanks has since shot up from about 15 to 25, thereby putting residents of the community at perpetual risk”
He alleged that “most of the oil depots did not carry out Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA, before commencing their operations”.
He also lamented that “There are no special access for the trucks trooping into the area order than the one usually plied by the residents. The tank farm owners actually created an exit road, but the road was blocked by the Nigerian Navy because it was too close to their barracks, and this barrack in question is where the whole armory of the Navy in Lagos state is housed”.
Our correspondent also gathered that the operators of the tank farms had failed to build a central fire station and fire-fighting facility in the event of a fire outbreak.
Shipping Position Daily investigations revealed that there are about 80 petroleum tank farms listed all over the country by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). However, the bulk of functional and large-capacity tank farms are domiciled in Lagos with most of them situated around Apapa.
Some of the tank farms operating in the community are A.A. RANO, Emadeb Energy, Wosbab, Chipet Nig. Ltd., Star Oil and Gas and Bond Global Energy Ltd. “Others are Mao Petroleum Company, Stallionaire Nig. Ltd., First Deep Water, Menj Oil and Ocean Pride Oil.
Meanwhile, according to an online property centre; Nigeria Property Centre, there are 10 available tank farms for sale in Satellite Town, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. According to the online source, many of the listed tank farms have been furnished and fully fitted.
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