NO fewer than 30 persons, suspected to be NNPC vandals died in a
pipeline fire at Arepo village, in Ogun early on Saturday, the police
said.
The Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in charge of the Special
Task Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism, Mr. Friday Ibadin, confirmed the
development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Ibadin said an explosion was heard at about 2 a.m. and shortly after,
a team of policemen led by the sector commander, Lagos, DSP Onaghise
Osayande, arrived at the scene and cordoned off the area. He said the
fire was caused by suspected vandals, who allegedly ferried across to
the creeks to siphon petroleum products from a ruptured NNPC pipeline.
“Our preliminary investigation reveals that the fire was sparked off
by vandals, who were arguing over who was eligible to fetch from the
ruptured pipeline. It was in the heat of the argument that one of them
accidentally released a bullet that led to several explosions.
“However, operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Task
Force on Anti-Pipeline Vandalism Unit, Force Headquarters Annex, Lagos,
who were on patrol rushed to the scene to avert further disaster. It was
in the process that they arrested a medical doctor and one of the
survivors on their way to the hospital in a jeep.
“The doctor was alleged to be smuggling one of the survivors, who
happens to be a vandal, to his private clinic for treatment. In the
course of interrogation, we discovered that the survivor was one of
those, who allegedly participated in the killing of three NNPC officials
in 2012 at same area,’’ Ibadin said.
The ACP said fire fighters were still trying to contain the fire. He
gave an assurance that the police would provide adequate security in the
area. He said security agencies were on the trail of other ``vandal’’
survivors, who fled the scene of the incident. He said one of the
suspects arrested told the police that many of his mates were killed in
the explosion, while others injured might still be alive and `` dying in
the creeks’’.
Ibadin narrated the suspect’s account of the incident and how his
mother reportedly called in a doctor to treat his wounds. “He claimed he
was in his house, when one Suleiman, his friend, called him that there
was a job at Arepo creeks. He asked him to look for a canoe and come
with as many gallons of jerry-cans.
“Shortly after he arrived, he saw argument among the vandals and some
began to fight before hearing a gunshot. He claimed the next thing was
an explosion. He claimed he was lucky that he wasn’t close to the
ruptured pipeline.
“It was in the heat of the fire that he managed to run to his boat,
where his mother was waiting. He said his mother called a doctor, who
was about taking him to the hospital before they were arrested by the
police,” he said.
On the number of persons involved in the incident, the suspect
claimed that there were more than 50 men and women, the ASP said. The
police officer also told NAN that the doctor had tried to exonerate
himself from the crime. He claimed he acted ``in accordance with his
oath to protect life,’’ after receiving a distress call from ``a
customer’’ for an emergency, the ACP said.
Meanwhile, scarcity of fuel looms in Lagos State and Ogun as NNPC has
since stopped the flow of petroleum products through the Arepo
pipeline, pending the repair of the ruptured pipeline.
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