Fuel supply in Lagos and adjoining states may be disrupted if the fire on the pipeline at Ije Ododo village is not put out.
The fire broke out last Saturday on the pipeline that runs through the community with refined petroleum products from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) terminal at Atlas Cove to Mosimi depot on the outskirts of Lagos.
The fire was still raging on Monday despite efforts by Lagos State Fire Service and NNPC officials to prevent it from spreading to the neighbourhood.
One Fire Service official said the swampy terrain is the greatest challenge as he and his colleague cannot gain access to the source of the fire.
The only link with the village, FESTAC town and the precincts is through a new narrow wooden bridge being constructed through community effort.
Policemen and members of the Civil Defence Corps have been drafted to the scene to maintain security. Firemen have planted huge wooden planks to construct a temporary access route for their water tankers.
Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Media and Public Affairs Manager, Ralph Ugwu, said the company�s officials and firemen have given assurance that they would not leave the scene until the fire is put out.
Pumping of products through the pipeline has been stopped as the PPMC explores alternative ways of moving products from the Mosimi depot.
There are fears of fuel shortage in the South West if normalcy is not restored soon.
Mosimi is one of the six regional storage depots operated by the PPMC, the NNPC subsidiary in charge of marketing and distribution.
Marketers in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Kwara States source supply from the Mosimi zone, which services Mosimi, Atlas Cove, Ejigbo, Ibadan, Ore, and Ilorin depots.
The fire was started by persons suspected to be vandals who steal fuel around Ije Ododo village.
Pipeline fire incidents are a recurring decimal, sometimes with high casualties.
On May 12, 2006, hundreds of residents of Ilado village near Lagos were roasted alive in the fire sparked off from a vandalised pipeline. They were scooping fuel.
In October 1998, more than a 1,000 people in Jesse, Delta State died when a pipeline they were scooping fuel from caught fire.