The Enugu State government has banned drilling of boreholes without authorisation following fire outbreak during a borehole drilling at the Federal Housing Estate in Ugwogo Nike.
The Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Prof. Sam Ugwu said henceforth, the authorisation of relevant government agencies must be obtained before drilling of borehole.
Prof Egwu spoke during an inspection tour of the incident, which occurred at about 10:30pm on Saturday and lasted till the early hours of Sunday,
During the site inspection, Ugwu, who was also accompanied by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Kingsley Nnaji, thanked the firemen, led by the Chief Fire Officer, Okwudiri Ohaa, for their prompt intervention.
According to Ugwu, the State experienced same gas flaring around the Caritas University last year, making it the second incident.
“The government is going to investigate the incident further because already, we have environmental laws. They were supposed to have applied to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
“The ministry would come here to do an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and then there would be a letter of commencement, which would be issued by the ministry.
“So, I advise anybody going into the ground to do the proper thing to avoid this kind of experience we now have here. But for the prompt intervention of the State Fire Service, this could have caused loss of lives and houses around this place.
“But these gas eruptions have also further confirmed Gov. Peter Mbah’s statement that we have both solid and liquid mineral resources in abundance in Enugu State.”
The governor had said his administration was very much interested in harnessing them for the good of the people of Enugu and the nation in general.
Ugwu added that Enugu is not known as Coal City alone because it has gas, limestone, kaolin, gypsum, and other mineral resources in abundance.
“That is why the present government is very much interested in bringing local and foreign investors to come and invest in these mineral deposits,” Ugwu stated.
Narrating the incident, Ohaa said the experience garnered by the Fire Service during such accidental gas eruption around Caritas University, Nike, helped them in applying the right measure to stop the flare.
“What readily came to mind was the incident at Caritas University last year, around 24th May to be precise. That Caritas University incident took us roughly three weeks to quench because we never had such an experience before that.
“But with the support of the government that has continued to finance us for emergencies like this, we were able to put off this one in less than eight hours.
“It shows that the Enugu State government is not joking about making the State the first choice for investment,” he said.
He warned residents of the area to respect the cordon by the servicemen, and also avoid coming close to the site with naked flame.
He, however, assured that his men would be on ground until the flow totally stops.
A resident of the estate, Mr. Boniface Ogbueje, told journalists that the incident caused pandemonium, but commended the fire fighters for saving the situation.
“We thought the rig or the vehicle had gas leakage and caught fire. Eventually it was not the case. The fire continued to increase and increase.
“People were running helter-skelter, but the firemen came quickly and were able to bring the fire under control after several hours. God really helped us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kamarudeen Ado, a staff member of the drilling firm – Orange Drilling Company – said they were taken unawares as they least expected the presence of natural gas in the water pumping up.
He, however, confirmed that there was no loss of life and property, while those injured are receiving treatment at a medical facility.
* NAN
