Tragedy averted in Ibadan pipeline fire •As soldiers arrest fake soldier

CONTRARY to speculations that the diesel pipeline fire, which residents of Elebu witnessed on Saturday morning was due to mechanical faults within the piping system, residents said it was actually caused by illegal bunkerers who vandalised the pipelines.

Though no life was lost, the fire, which according to residents, started around 6:30 a.m and was still burning fiercely till around noon, could have been averted if the widespread calls for more security operatives around the area had been approved by the agencies concerned. According to Saliu Rahman, a resident in Elebu, cases of bunkering had been reported several times to the police and they had always promised to beef up security but nothing had been done so far.

“We had reported the thieves who always come to steal oil from this area. If they (police) had given us their men to guard this place, this fire could have been averted. Thank God it didn’t affect any house or kill anyone. Maybe now, government would hear our cries”, he said.

Fire fighters on the scene also had difficult task accessing the site of the fire as the water logged soil prevented the trucks from reaching the scene.
However, the firefighters re-grouped and eventually put the fire out after many hours of struggle.

Meanwhile, men of Operation Burst arrested one Mr Olatunde Ogunshina who claimed to be a retired Major, over alleged pipeline vandalism.

Olatunde was granting an interview to newsmen when security men approached him and asked him to identify himself when security men arrested him and took him to their office in Agodi.

During investigation, Olatunde confessed that: “I am not a military man as I said earlier.

“I only retired as a civilian worker from the Nigerian Army, 2 Mechanised Division, Odogbo, Ibadan, six years ago.”

Olatunde said he worked as an engineer at the barracks before he retired, saying he is now a security man in the affected area.

“I was the one who called the Divisional Crime Officer Apata police station and the Division Police Officer at Kuola when I saw the fire early this morning around 8:45 am,’’ he said.
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