LAGOS—THE pipeline fire at Imore village in Lagos raged for the third day running yesterday with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pledging uninterrupted supply of petroleum products. Efforts to put out the fire and the search for more bodies of victims of the fire also continued yesterday.
The NNPC was optimistic that the fire would be put out today following the contracting of the job to construction giant, Julius Berger. Three bodies were recovered from the scene at about 3.45p.m. yesterday.
An eye witness who claimed to be a boat operator in the area said police identity cards were found on five of the bodies recovered on Friday, but the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Emmanuel Ighodalo, said he was not aware that policemen were among the victims.
“Really, you mean some policemen went to do what those people were doing? But, please, I am not aware and I cannot confirm that to you because I don’t think it is true,” Mr. Ighodalo said on phone.
There was a heavy security presence in the area yesterday.
The boat operator, speaking to Vanguard, said: “If you cross this river now you will see big tanks all full of fuel and over 500 Jerry cans which these people use for their business, and let me tell you they are making a lot of money from it. When NLC went on strike over increase in pump prices of petroleum products and there was scarcity of fuel in Lagos, we did not experience such scarcity because we had products in abundance.”
'Fire won't affect fuel supply'
However, the NNPC has pledged to sustain uninterrupted petroleum products supply despite the pipeline fire at Imore village. The corporation has also served notice that the fire may be put out today as Julius Berger, the construction giant, has been contracted for this purpose.
When Vanguard visited the scene yesterday, fire continued to rage with dire consequences for the environment. There were also indications that death toll from the pipeline explosion may have risen to 50 with more bodies being identified from the raging inferno.
Mr. Funsho Kupolokun, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, speaking to reporters at the scene said there was no need for panic, adding that the Mosimi depot had 75million litres of fuel.
“We will be able to replace the line before anything happens. We do not know the amount of petroleum product lost yet. But the intensity of the fire has gone down and by the end of today (yesterday), the fire will be out. But we have to wait for another 24 hours for the place to cool before we can do anything,” he said.Mr. Kupolokun said investigations revealed that the vandals used a metallic tank, and installed a pipe on the metallic tank to draw fuel directly from the pipeline.
“Hopefully, within 24 hours the fire will cool down and we will check the leakage and damage and change the pipeline,” he reiterated.
He described the affected pipeline as a major artery which supplied the Mosimi depot and gave the assurance that the pipeline would be fixed within the next two weeks.
Mr. Kupolokun also noted that the affected pipeline was vandalised by professionals who knew what they were doing and called on the community people to desist from conniving with them.
