Posted by By Adedapo Akinrefon on
Another petroleum pipeline early yesterday exploded at Soba, near Abule-Ado, off Lagos Badagry road.
Another petroleum pipeline early yesterday exploded at Soba, near Abule-Ado, off Lagos Badagry road.
Time 2.30 am. The fire had apparently been ignited by fire from a tanker being used to tap petro illegally from the pipeline. There was no immediate confirmation of any casualty. When Saturday Vanguard visited the scene of the fire, one of the two tankers with Lagos registration number XF 96 GGE was still in flames, while efforts by the fire fighters to put out the fire proved abortive.
The factional leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams whose residence is about some distance away from the fire said that he was woken up by shouts of fire by some members of the community who were already running for their lives.
According to him, "I have been saying whenever we held any meeting with the Baale that we had information that there are some of the villagers who are conniving with some oil bunkerers to come and scoop oil in this area of ours. Now, when this incident happened, I alerted the Baale of the town to keep him abreast with situation of things. I thereafter tried calling the DPO of the area as well as the Commissioner of Police to explain that some oil bunkerers had caused outbreak of fire in our town but their mobile phones were all switched off"
In addition, he said that "information reached us that some men suspected to be oil bunkerers were planning to come and vandalise the pipes here and thereafter, we caught and made them sign an agreement that they would not do anything of such and they did."
Meanwhile, eyewitness said that one of the persons believed to be part of the bunkerers was injured as a result of the explosion and is said to be receiving treatment at the general hospital in Yaba.