Pipeline Fire: NNPC to Handover Vandals to EFCC
By Gloria Achoyamen
Piqued by the number of casualties recorded in the oil pipeline tragedy in Lagos last week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday that vandals of oil facilities will henceforth be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
More than 50 people reportedly died from the pipeline fire which occured in the Ijegun riverine community located in Ojo end of the Lagos metropolis.
The Group Managing Direc-tor of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Funsho Kupolokun, on a visit to the disaster site yeaserday, said while statistics showed that the incidence of pipeline vandalisation was on the decline, the latest incidence suggested that drastic measures still must be taken against vandals.
"Wherever we find any case of misdeeds or sharp practices, we will simply handover the culprit to the EFCC," said Kupolokun.
"We came here to pay condolence visit to the family of the affected victims. On getting here nobody was left in the village, the villagers have abandoned the village and those that organised the vandalisation are somewhere else enjoying themselves," the NNPC GMD said.
A special task force on oil pipeline vandals is to be set up in Lagos state, he added.
Suspects caught in the act of vandalising oil pipelines are currently prosecuted by the police. According to Kupolokun, reported cases of pipeline vandalisation had reduced from 909 cases in 2000 to 453 cases in 2003, while only few cases had been recorded so far this year.
"Since then over 200 pipeline vandals have been arrested and several quantities of petroleum products recovered from the suspects," he said.
Monetarily, the country lost some N8.2 billion to pipeline vandalisation in 2003 while other cases of vandalisation had brought serious environmental pollution, he added.
The fire said to have been ignited when some people besieged a vandalised pipeline in the area to scoop for fuel, was still raging, with the fire fighting crew from Julius Beger was battling to put it out.
An official from the company said that the fire should hopefully be put out by the end of today.
Kupolokun said the incident would not create fuel scarcity in Lagos and its environs as the corporation would re-inforce supply from Mosimi and Ibadan depots, which hold about 75 millon litres each.
He, however, called on members of the public to join in monitoring and securing oil pipelines because of the economic and environmental implications.
About 500 people died in Jesse, a small community in Ethiope Local Government area of Delta State when there was a similar fire outbreak resulting from illegal activities of oil pipeline vandals. A small community in Abia State also witnessed fire outbreak in which many people died when an illegal oil scooping activity ended in disaster.
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