The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, in the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has warned that any filling stations that violate the minimum safety standard on product discharge will not only be sanctioned but may also stand to lose their operating licence.
The Director General of the Agency, Dr. Abbas Idriss disclosed this during a chat with Journalists in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The DG explained that “Not only that, they may be compelled to pay compensations to any third party whose property got affected as a result of their negligence”
He made it clear that the Minister of the FCT, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello is worried about the increasing cases of filling station fire disasters in the territory and therefore directed that such filling stations must be sanctioned for violating the laws regulating their business.
Dr. Idriss also informed the residents that the FCTA is liaising with the Upstream and the Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and other stakeholders to ensure strict adherence to the regulations on product discharge.
According to him, “there is going to be the proper engagement of all the stakeholders as directed by the FCT Minister to prevent further incidences of fire”.
The FEMA boss emphasised that no filling station should discharge petroleum products when the temperature is high to avoid fire outbreaks.
The DG further stated that the FCTA was putting modalities in place to ensure that all filling stations in the Territory have public liability insurance and maintain a minimum standard of fire defense equipment where the staff is adequately trained on safety standards.
“We will investigate and ensure that they have insurance so that they can pay compensation to the third parties“, he added.
He appealed to residents to always use the 112 emergency toll-free number in an emergency.
Dominica Nwabufo
