PIPELINE FIRE IN ADEJE, DELTA STATE

There was a fire out break on a pipeline of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, in Adeje Community of Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State.

The fire was still raging at the time of this report on Saturday evening.

It was gathered that the fire raging at two points - just about 100 metres apart - was the second within 24 hours.

Reliable local sources told our correspondent that a similar fire broke out on Friday morning after youths invaded the facilities during the night.

“The pipeline was ruptured at several points by suspected vandals who ostensibly after siphoning enough kerosene from the point, left the scene for youths and women from the communities, who invaded with jerry cans and all sorts of containers with which they fetched kerosene from the ruptured points,” a source told our correspondent.

Although the cause of the pipeline fire was yet to be ascertained at the time of this report on Saturday, our correspondent gathered that inhabitants of the area are relocating from around the scene.

A similarly pipeline fire in nearby Jesse town of Ethiope West LGA led to the death of several hundreds of persons in ten years ago.

Huge black cloud from the raging fire enveloped Adeje and neighbouring Opuraja, a development that greatly reduced visibility and increased fears of disaster among residents.

Armed personnel including anti-riot policemen and soldiers were sighted around 200 metres from the scene of the raging fire on the NNPC right of way.

The security agents, who arrived the scene in three patrol vans, prevented our correspondent from taking photographs of the fire. The leader of the team told our correspondent that they had no mandate to allow journalists into the scene after our correspondent properly identified himself as a reporter.

Nevertheless, independent investigation by our correspondent revealed that the fire, which gutted the pipeline on Friday and Saturday morning, could have resulted from sabotage following a clash between security agents and youths from the community.

A source who craved anonymity said earlier on Friday morning soldiers from the David Ejoor Barracks in Effurun, swooped on innocent citizens of the community who they indiscriminately arrested and molested.

Specifically, it was gathered that the troops targeted commercial motorcyclists, rounded them up and compelled them to frog leap through the length and breadth of the community.

Consequently, it was suspected that some of the aggrieved victims or hoodlums who were prevented from siphoning kerosene from the damaged facility went back and set it on fire.

Although fire fighters, who were called in later put off the Friday’s fire, another fire was started at about 2:00pm on Saturday.

Attempts to get officials of the PPMC or competent NNPC personnel to comment on the incidents proved abortive: it was gathered that pipeline surveillance team attack to the PPMC had alerted the relevant authorities.

It would be recalled that the Managing Director of the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company, Mr. Andrew Yakubu had raised the alarm over activities of vandals around the area.

Yakubu, an engineer, told newsmen that although WRPC plants had hit 100 percent capacity utilization, it was unable to produce optimally because of lack of evacuation facilities.

Specifically, he said the pipeline that convey products from Warri to Benin Depot of NNPC was ruptured at over 100 points, a situation which restrict product evacuation to only by truck and marine.