Tragedy struck in Edo state on Thursday when a compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered vehicle exploded at a NIPCO filling station along Benin-Auchi road, Uhunmwonde Local Government Area.

At least three people were seriously injured in the blast and rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for treatment.

Those hospitalized include a passenger from another vehicle, a pump attendant, and an additional staff member from the filling station, eyewitnesses confirmed.

According to TheCable, a source at the gas station said that the explosion was caused by “the substandard conversion kits and cylinder used in the installation of the CNG on the Audi 80 salon car.”

“The driver of the car and the technician who installed the CNG kits in the vehicle had driven to the filling station to test the efficacy of the installation when the explosion occurred,” the source added.

“Some people patronise roadside technicians because of the high cost of conversion.”

• CNG Conversion Drive

The federal government has been persuading Nigerians to convert their gasoline-powered vehicles to CNG after President Bola Tinubu pulled the plug on the petrol subsidy regime in 2023.

The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) confirmed the Edo explosion in a statement posted on X.

The PCNGI said the vehicle was “illegally modified” to CNG.

The agency advised that only accredited conversion centres should be used to convert petrol-powered vehicles to CNG.

“A close examination of the cylinder in question in Benin City shows it was welded and modified and not approved for use for CNG,” the statement reads.

“The police, regulatory authorities and management of NIPCO are undertaking a painstaking investigation of the incident and we are coordinating with them.

“This incident reiterates the impetus of the PCNGI and our partners on the soon-to-be-launched Nigeria Gas Vehicle Monitoring System at SON, NMDPRA, NADDC and FRSC to tackle any bad actors in the ecosystem that seeks to make this safer, cheaper, cleaner and more reliable source of fueling risky for all.

“We also call on all stakeholders to cooperate with the new system of regulation and ensure full compliance.

“Only accredited conversion centres must be patronized and safe handling of CNG just like petrol ensures safety for all.”

A Nigerian woman named Oluwakemi Gbangbalasa has celebrated the birth of her first child after waiting 28 years.

Gbangbalasa, who is believed to be in her 50s, shared the joyful news on social media on Wednesday, along with photos and videos of herself and her newborn daughter.

The entrepreneur expressed that she “waited and prayed” for 28 years before this moment.

“For this child, we waited. For this child, we prayed. For this child, we hoped,” she shared.

“After 28 years of waiting on you my God, you blessed me! Thank you God, I am so grateful. My bundle of joy is here.”

During her daughter’s naming ceremony, Gbangbalasa reiterated her belief that “nothing is impossible for God” and thanked her husband and family members for their unwavering support.

She encouraged others hoping for similar blessings to trust that God would fulfill their dreams at the right time.

“I am so happy, I don’t even know how I feel right now. I put my trust in God because I believed that nothing is impossible,” she said on Instagram.

“I knew that one day I will be happy, and today I am very happy this happened during my life time.

“I thank everyone who has supported me up until now; my husband, my younger siblings, and my husband’s children. They all supported me so well and I love them very much.”

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has emphasized the necessity of establishing power grids in various regions or states to eliminate the frequent grid collapses.

He made this statement on Wednesday during the unveiling of Hexing Livoltek, an electricity meter manufacturing company located in the Lekki area of Lagos State.

Adelabu noted that grid collapses are nearly unavoidable in Nigeria due to the poor condition of the country’s power infrastructure.

He stated that having multiple power grids across regions and states would provide greater stability.

The minister pointed out that the decentralization of the power sector would facilitate the construction of grids in each region, an initiative enabled by the Electricity Act signed by President Bola Tinubu in 2023.

“This Electricity Act has decentralised power. It has enabled all the subnational governments, the state government and the local government, to be able to participate in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity.

We all rely on a single national grid today; if there is a disturbance of the national grid, it affects all 36 states. It shouldn’t be like that. This will enable us to start moving gradually towards having regional groups and possibly having state grids.

“And each of these grids will be removed and shielded from each other. So, if there’s a problem with a particular grid, only the state where it belongs will be affected, not the entire nation. So, this is one of the impacts this Electricity Act will have,” he stressed.

Regarding grid collapses, he asserted that such occurrences would be inevitable without adequate investment in the sector.

“We keep talking about grid collapse. Grid collapse, grid collapse, whether it’s a total collapse, partial collapse, or slight trip-off.

This is almost inevitable as it is today, given the state of our power infrastructure, the infrastructure is in deplorable conditions, so why won’t you have trip-offs?

Why won’t you have collapses, either total or partial? It will continue to remain like this until we can overhaul the entire infrastructure. What we do now is to make sure that we manage it,” he declared.

Adelabu affirmed that there had been no grid collapse in the past four months until it occurred again on Monday.

“In the last four months, we have not heard of any grid collapse, except two days ago when we had a partial collapse that didn’t even last two hours.

So, what we work on now is how to improve our response time, to bring it up each time it collapses.

There are transformers of 60 years old, and 50 years old, and you’re expecting them to perform at the optimal rate. It is not possible.

That is why we need a lot of investments in this infrastructure to bring them up to speed, to bring them up to the state that can give us a grid that will not collapse again,” he enunciated.

While unveiling the company, Adelabu praised the firm for its significant investment in Nigeria at a time when others were withdrawing.

He remarked that the event marked a significant milestone in the sector’s journey toward a more efficient and equitable electricity system.

The minister clarified that the launch of the meter factory symbolized a key achievement in ongoing efforts to prioritize local content, stimulate job creation, and lessen Nigeria’s dependence on imports.

The Chief Executive Officer of Hexing Group, Robert Liang, expressed optimism about Hexing’s expansion into Nigeria, calling it a pivotal moment for the company and a commitment to advancing clean energy in the country.

“This is a proud moment for the Hexing Group as we open our branch in Nigeria. It’s more than just an office; it’s a step towards a future where clean energy drives the growth of this great nation.”

Liang highlighted Hexing’s three decades of leadership in smart energy systems, solar technology, and digital infrastructure.