Lagos ‘pipeline’ explosion is suspiciously different ----ERA/FoEN
*Scene of Abule Ado explosion, Lagos
(Nigeria) Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, ERA/FoEN,
has asked the Federal Government to carry out forensic investigation of the
immediate and remote cause of the Abule
Ado explosion on March 15, 2020, which killed scores and led to devastation of
epic proportions.
The group in a statement in Lagos, also called on the Lagos
State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-olu to immediately set up a Special Task Force
on pipelines security with the purpose of preventing ceaseless pipeline
accidents in the state.
The Sunday morning blast occurred near the popular ASPAMDA
market and Mechanic village in Abule Ado, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area,
Lagos. Vibrations from the blast shook many parts of the state and was felt as
far as Iba, Okokomaiko, Agege, Alimosho and Surulere, among others.
The Lagos government had earlier stated the incident was not in any way linked
to pipeline vandalism but could not provide details on the cause of the
incident but the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, insisted it was
caused by a truck that hit some cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant
located near the corporations’ system 2B Pipeline right of way.
Among the casualties of the explosion were a Reverend
Sister, Henrietta Alokha who is also the Principal of Bethlehem High School,
Abule Ado and some students of the
school she was trying to rescue. A
family of four that were on their way to church also died, as well as a
newly-wed couple who were said to be expecting a child. Many are still
unaccounted for and suspected to be under rubble in collapsed houses at the
time of preparing this statement.
ERA/FoEN, however, cautioned the Federal government not to
be too casual to conclude that that the incident was an accident, noting that
the accounts of the NNPC on the real
cause of the blast is unconvincing and raises some questions.
ERA/FoEN Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said:
“There is something suspiciously different about this explosion. The scale of
destruction is nothing like any of the
pipeline explosions we have monitored and documented for several decades.
“The Sunday incident’s scale of destruction could only be
likened to military grade explosions or aerial bombardment. We can’t treat this
casually as an accident caused by a truck.
“With the current security challenges facing this country,
it is extremely premature to draw conclusions without conducting forensic
investigation on this particular blast. Not even the accidental detonation of
bombs at the Ikeja cantonment caused this scale of destruction and ruins.
Government must conduct comprehensive investigation to establish if this was a
crime or an accident.
“And there are questions begging for answers: Who drove the
truck? What is the truck doing on a pipeline on Sunday morning? Was the gas
plant opened on a Sunday? Was the content of the truck weaponized?
“And for the NNPC that has admitted some level of
culpability by confirming that the primary explosion came from its gas truck,
it should immediately initiate the process of providing remediation for the
affected families and businesses while its officials found to have through
negligence orchestrated this massive destruction should be made to face the
law.”
ERA/FoEN commiserated with the families of the dead and
those that lost properties and businesses. The group however urged Governor
Sanwo-olu to immediately set up a task force on pipeline security.
“It is unfortunate that the Federal agencies saddled with
the protection and security of pipelines has failed woefully. The governor as
the Chief Security officer of the state needs to act in a way that will put an
end to these perennial deaths and destruction, since Lagos sits on a web of oil
and gas pipelines,” ERA/FoEN quipped.
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