An oil pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Ilado, a Lagos suburb, exploded at the weekend leaving scores of persons injured.
Eleven fuel boats believed to be owned by some vandals who had gone to scoop fuel from the vandalised pipeline were razed.
THISDAY learnt that the fire, which erupted at about 8.15 pm on Saturday, damaged the pipeline that transports refined products from the corporation’s Atlas Cove depot to Mosimi depot in Ogun State, from where products are distributed to users in parts of Ogun and Ondo States and the North.
Spokesman of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of NNPC, Mr. Raph Ugwu, confirmed the incident last night, but said the fire had been put out while the damaged pipeline had been repaired.
He also confirmed that the 12 boats, which the oil thieves operated with, were completely razed in the ensuing fire but he disclosed that there was no report of any loss of life.
Sources close to the area hinted that the vandals had operated in 12 boats, each carrying about 30 jerry cans of 50-litre capacity.
They were said to have successfully filled the jerry cans in 11 of the boats with petrol, when some Naval Ratings who acted on a tip-off stormed the scene.
On sighting the patrol team, the vandals were said to have attempted to escape when the fire erupted.
“The vandals came in with 12 boats with each carrying about 30 jerry cans of 50-litre capacity. They siphoned fuel from the pipeline but on sighting a naval patrol, a stampede ensued and all the boats were gutted. When the PPMC was alerted, we stopped pumping fuel from the pipeline and mobilised engineers who put out the fire in the early hours of Sunday. The pipeline has been repaired and normal pumping of fuel restored. There was no human casualty,” said an official of the corporation who spoke on condition of anonymity last night.
Ilado village, about 25 miles east of Lagos, is prone to pipeline vandalism.
A spill explosion, which took place in the area in May 2006, left over 300 villagers who had gone to siphon fuel from the site dead.
Reacting to the spill explosion, the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) had recommended the enforcement of periodic integrity checks, effective surveillance, prompt response mechanisms as well as eradication of poverty as part of measures government must implement to stem incessant pipeline explosions in the country.
Vandalism of petroleum pipelines has remained the greatest threat to effective and efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products in Nigeria.
The NNPC, it was learnt, suffered 971 cases of pipeline vandalism in 2004, 2,258 in 2005 and 2,912 cases in 2006 and a substantial number in 2007.
Statistic obtained by THISDAY recently revealed that no fewer than 5,000 persons had been killed in pipeline explosions in the recent past.
In December 26, 2006, hundreds of persons were killed following an explosion from a vandalised pipeline in Awori area of Abule-Egba, another Lagos suburb.
In October 1998, when a similar tragedy occurred in Jesse town, Delta State, well over 1000 persons were killed, while so many others were severely burnt.
In two separate incidents, which occurred in Warri and Ebute precisely on July 16 and November 30, 2000 respectively, over 180 persons were reportedly killed.
A similar incident in June 19, 2003 in Umuahia claimed no fewer than 125 lives.
This is aside from about 1,300 others reportedly killed between 2004 and 2005 in Lagos, which is prone to such incidences.
The NNPC has often blamed pipeline vandalism as the major reason why the nation’s refineries have not been operating.
In February 18, 2006, the Chanomi Creek Pipeline, which feeds the Warri and Kaduna refineries, was blown up by Niger Delta militants.
The refinery is yet to be restored to normal operation years after.
Nigeria is still importing products massively due to the poor state of all the nation’s refineries.
Jun152009