President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Nigerians to avoid tampering with pipelines and sensitive installations across the country.
The president’s call comes in reaction to a pipeline that exploded in the Ijegun area of Lagos State early on Thursday, July 4, 2019.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) confirmed that two people were burnt to death in the resulting fire.
At least 20 people also sustained different degrees of burns while 30 vehicles, as well as the Ijegun Junior and Senior High schools and other structures worth millions were affected.
LASEMA’s General Manager, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, disclosed on Thursday that the explosion was caused by vandals who were engaged in illegal bunkering activities at Fire Junction, Ijegun, within the vicinity where pipelines of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) were buried.
In his condolence message released on Friday, July 5, President Buhari said Nigerians should stop vandalisng pipelines because it puts many lives at risk.
“President Muhammadu Buhari commiserates with families who lost their loved ones in an inferno in Ijegun, Lagos State, on Thursday.
“President Buhari condoles with people and government of Lagos over the fire disaster that claimed lives and property, urging security agencies to ensure that those behind the unfortunate incident are brought to justice,” a statement by Buhari’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, read.
LASEMA’s Oke-Osanyintolu said on Thursday that the fire was started by the vandals who were trying to escape the scene after they were confronted by security agents.
“The vandals had already siphoned petrol into a 33,000 litres tanker while a second tanker of the same capacity was being loaded when security agencies suddenly intercepted them.
“While trying to escape, some of the siphoned fuel spilled into the drainage and the vandals were alleged to have set the spilled fuel on fire in a bid to deter the security agencies from apprehending them.
“The fire eventually returned to the pipeline point where the vandals siphoned the fuel and exploded with escalating fire which led to two fatalities and over 30 vehicles burnt,” he said.
The victims of the incident were a commercial driver who was killed in his vehicle, and a night security guard who was trying to trace the source of the fuel leak before it exploded.
