Victims of the pipeline fire explosions in Ossisioma Ngwa in Abia State on Tuesday, February 11, 2020, have sued the Federal Government at the state high court for N4.215 billion.
They are praying for an order for the payment of exemplary/aggravated against the defendants jointly and severally in the sum of N3 billion.
They are also demanding general damages of N1.2 billion as well as special damages of N15million against the defendants.
The victims said they suffered physical, emotional and psychological trauma following the pipeline fire explosions due to the defendants’ alleged negligent acts.
The Pipelines Product Marketing Company, PPMC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, FGN, are the defendants.
On October 12, 2018, a system 2E petroleum pipeline belonging to the NNPC and managed by its subsidiary, the PPMC, caught fire and exploded in the Ossisioma Ngwa community of Abia.
It resulted in a massive conflagration that destroyed several human/animal lives and properties in the community.
Alongside the human fatalities, the inferno caused blistering devastation to several residents of Umuaduru and Umuimo villages as well as residents of Uratta, Umuze and Njiko Umunna Autonomous Communities in Ossisioma Ngwa Local Government Area.
The victims filed the suit, numbered HOS/88/2019, through Messrs. Joseph Otteh and Daniel Aloaye of a rights group, Access to Justice, at the Ossisioma division of the high court.
The claimants said the defendants were complicit and negligent in the series of events that led to the explosions.
They claimed that the defendants did not provide relief supplies or materials, did not offer life-saving medical care or treatment, and did not extend any financial help or compensation to families.
