- Urges NEMA to provide relief to football victims
James Emejo in Abuja
The House of Representatives thursday passed a motion mandating the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to investigate the disappearance of N11 billion worth of petroleum products belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The resolution was sequel to a motion sponsored by Hon. Yusuf Ayo Tajudeen which stated that sometime in February 2017, about 84 million litres of petroleum products belonging to the NNPC, which market value is about N11 billion stored in a private tank farm in Lagos had disappeared.
Meanwhile, separately, the House also passed a resolution yesterday directing the he National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials to the victims of the recent electrocution incidence at a football viewing center in Calabar.
It further directed the agency to take inventory of damages caused with a view to assisting the victims who are still receiving treatment at the hospitals.
However, Tajudeen said the sudden disappearance of the petroleum products had led to humongous revenue loss to the federal government at a time when the country is experiencing massive economic downturn.
The House further noted that in its bid to make petroleum products readily available for consumers, NNPC on a regular basis has subsisting agreements with owners of tank farms for storage of petroleum products.
The House noted that the owner of the tank farm, when confronted, confessed to having lifted the products without authorisation and agreed to either return the products or pay the monetary value within seven days but has failed to do so, hence the NNPC had to report the incident to relevant security agencies.
The House, on the unfortunate incident at the football viewing center also called on town planning and regulatory agencies to strictly enforce regulations and ensure that buildings are not raised under high tension cables to avoid similar occurrence.
On April 20, football fans assembled at a viewing centre in Ngakassang Atimnbo, Calabar, to watch the Europa Football match between Manchester United Football Club and the Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht.
However, in the course of the match, a nearby transformer exploded, causing one of the high tension cables connected to the transformer to snap and fall on the zinc of the viewing centre and in the process, electrocuted over 30 people, with several others sustaining various degrees of injury from the fire occasioned by the incident.
Noting that many other transformers dotting the landscape of various cities are not properly maintained, posing tragedies waiting to happen, the House further mandated the Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness to visit the community and make recommendations within two weeks on how to prevent reoccurrence.
A minute silence was observed at plenary in honour of those who lost their lives in the infamous incident.
