NNPC Pipeline Catches Fire In Lagos Suburb
By Suleiman Ugbokhe
It was a restless night for residents of Ijegun, a suburb of Lagos, southwest Nigeria when an underground pipeline conveying crude oil through the area caught fire in the early hours of Thursday, July 4, 2019.
Residents within a two kilometre radius of the fire spot were seen gathered in groups in fronts of their houses and others milling along the adjoining roads discussing the raging fire even as the pall of smoke rising into the sky.
Some watchers who stood within a few metres from the source of the fire told agbelonews.com that the fire resulted from exchange of gun fire between Nigerian security personnel who patrol the crude oil pipeline route and pipeline vandals they met syphoning crude from the point they had breached the pipeline.
One male resident of the area who refused to give his name said the incidence happened at about 3am, today, July 4, 2019.
According to him, “The illegal bunkering by unknown people started around three o'clock in the night. There were about 13 (another source put the number of tankers at 3) fuel tankers and it was the last one that was still syphoning the fuel when the security people, I think police, sighted them.
“You know these illegal bunkering people also carry guns. So, may be when they saw the security people, there was shooting and that may have started the fire.”
Several buildings, including a school building sharing fence with Ijegun Comprehensive College were affected by the resulting fire that burn along the drainage through which the spilled fuel flows. Several makeshift stalls erected by petty traders along the road were burnt completely.
Many vehicles, both commercial and private, were also razed by the inferno.
Fire servicemen and vehicles from Lagos state fire service were seen around the area of the burning pipeline.
Another man who was at the scene at the early stage of the fire commended the efforts of the fire service but said “they were not able to quench the fire,” adding, “ One of their water hoses even caught fire while battling the fire.”
A lady simply known as Iyawo, who works in a hospital that is about two kilometres away from the inferno told agbelonews.com that she first noticed the smoke around four in the morning while preparing for work.
“When I drew my husband’s attention to the smoke, he said maybe they were burning tyres somewhere – a usual practice in their area – “ she said.
“But when I got to Ijegun Bus stop, there was a huge crowd of people. The entire express road was occupied by people watching the fire from afar. There were no vehicles on the road. I had to trek to office.”
Iyawo who works as a cleaner in the hospital further told agbelonews.com that people died in the inferno. According to her, she saw charred bodies inside some buses burnt down by the fire.
“I think they slept inside the buses in the night before the fire started and engulfed the buses. You see bodies with intestines gorging out. I could not bear to look at them twice,” she narrated to agbelonews.com.
“Some also died in the nearby canal as they had jumped in to escape the fire unknown to them that the spilled fuel had drained into the canal and was also burning.” (agbelonews.com could not verify this claim of casualties before this publication)
However, another man told agbelonews.com of two deaths related to the fire.
Agbelonews.com visited the very spot the NNPC pipeline fire stared from yesterday at Ijegun, Lagos.
The spot has been covered up, but not certain if the pipeline has been repaired by the relevant authorities.
Here are pictures from Lagos spot:
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| The NNPC pipeline fire at Ijegun, Lagos |
It was a restless night for residents of Ijegun, a suburb of Lagos, southwest Nigeria when an underground pipeline conveying crude oil through the area caught fire in the early hours of Thursday, July 4, 2019.
Residents within a two kilometre radius of the fire spot were seen gathered in groups in fronts of their houses and others milling along the adjoining roads discussing the raging fire even as the pall of smoke rising into the sky.
Some watchers who stood within a few metres from the source of the fire told agbelonews.com that the fire resulted from exchange of gun fire between Nigerian security personnel who patrol the crude oil pipeline route and pipeline vandals they met syphoning crude from the point they had breached the pipeline.
One male resident of the area who refused to give his name said the incidence happened at about 3am, today, July 4, 2019.
According to him, “The illegal bunkering by unknown people started around three o'clock in the night. There were about 13 (another source put the number of tankers at 3) fuel tankers and it was the last one that was still syphoning the fuel when the security people, I think police, sighted them.
“You know these illegal bunkering people also carry guns. So, may be when they saw the security people, there was shooting and that may have started the fire.”
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| One part of a school building gutted by the fire |
Several buildings, including a school building sharing fence with Ijegun Comprehensive College were affected by the resulting fire that burn along the drainage through which the spilled fuel flows. Several makeshift stalls erected by petty traders along the road were burnt completely.
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| Trails of destruction |
Many vehicles, both commercial and private, were also razed by the inferno.
Fire servicemen and vehicles from Lagos state fire service were seen around the area of the burning pipeline.
Another man who was at the scene at the early stage of the fire commended the efforts of the fire service but said “they were not able to quench the fire,” adding, “ One of their water hoses even caught fire while battling the fire.”
A lady simply known as Iyawo, who works in a hospital that is about two kilometres away from the inferno told agbelonews.com that she first noticed the smoke around four in the morning while preparing for work.
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| The smoke from the inferno could be seen kilometres away |
“When I drew my husband’s attention to the smoke, he said maybe they were burning tyres somewhere – a usual practice in their area – “ she said.
“But when I got to Ijegun Bus stop, there was a huge crowd of people. The entire express road was occupied by people watching the fire from afar. There were no vehicles on the road. I had to trek to office.”
Iyawo who works as a cleaner in the hospital further told agbelonews.com that people died in the inferno. According to her, she saw charred bodies inside some buses burnt down by the fire.
“I think they slept inside the buses in the night before the fire started and engulfed the buses. You see bodies with intestines gorging out. I could not bear to look at them twice,” she narrated to agbelonews.com.
“Some also died in the nearby canal as they had jumped in to escape the fire unknown to them that the spilled fuel had drained into the canal and was also burning.” (agbelonews.com could not verify this claim of casualties before this publication)
However, another man told agbelonews.com of two deaths related to the fire.
...The Day After...
The spot has been covered up, but not certain if the pipeline has been repaired by the relevant authorities.
Here are pictures from Lagos spot:
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The remains of the burnt hose on the spot where the pipe was pierced by the vandals to fill the tanker equally consumed by the inferno
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