An explosion on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 blasted the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline in the Ije Ododo area of Lagos State, the handiwork of some vandals as they yet again intentionally tampered with the pipelines.
This is coming just about two weeks after pipeline vandals ambushed and shot five policemen deployed to secure the area .
Also, in February, 2015, a similar incident occurred in the same area when some vandals broke another pipeline in Ije Ododo at two different points leading to massive spillage of petrol.
According to ThisDay Newspaper the attempt to pierce the pipeline was said to have caused the explosion which caused billows of flames to engulf the entire section of the pipeline, even as emergency services scampered to the scene.
The explosion occurred because the vandals tampered with the pipeline before inserting valves, which they use to siphon fuel from the ruptured pipes into kegs.
Confirming the incident, the South-west National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Spokesperson, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, however said emergency workers were initially impeded by the boggy terrain.
He also said while they were attempting to access the scene of the explosion, NNPC engineers had already taken action to stopping the petrol from flowing by locking up the product valves.
According to him: “Vandals struck again on the NNPC pipeline at Ije Ododo line and as at now, NNPC has shut down flows and locked the supply valves to stop further supply to feeding the fire.
“Action has commenced to put out the fire this morning after securing access to the difficult terrain, which had proven extremely difficult due to swampy nature of the area.
“Ije Ododo line is directly from Atlas Cove which supplies products to Moshinmi, which further distributes to other part of the South-west zone.
“Ije Ododo and Arepo have been very volatile and extremely dangerous due to activities of the vandals in recent times.”
Farinloye appealed to Nigerians to assist the government in safeguarding the nation’s infrastructure by providing timely information of the activities of the vandals.
