26 February 2013, Lagos – In a bid to bridle the incessant pipeline vandalism of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation system 2B artery in Arepo, Ogun State, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has deployed state- of –the-art technology to maintain comprehensive surveillance of the pipeline.
The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Engr. Andrew Yakubu, disclosed this Tuesday while on a one day working visit to ascertain the extent of work done by the Nigerian Army Engineering Corps code named SAPA on the clearance of the pipeline right of way at Arepo.
Engr. Yakubu revealed that already an indigenous engineering firm, ENIKKOM, has been mobilized to redirect the pipeline from the reach of vandals with modern technology to monitor the pipeline on a regular basis.
“The engineering firm is bringing modern technology to bear on the system by burying the pipelines much deeper. New pipelines will be used to change the configuration in order to keep pipeline vandals away from the Corporation’s critical infrastructure,” Engr. Yakubu informed.
He said in matching words with action and to continue to improve the right of way of the pipelines, the NNPC has also built a watch tower, police post, and would ensure that the hot spots would be completely secured, adding that this would also prevent the loss of lives. NNPC will also build a long wide platform that will ensure easy access at anytime for the security forces over the swamps.
The NNPC helmsman observed that the project has a very high cost benefit to the Corporation saying that the Corporation records a loss of six hundred million naira every week that the System 2B is hacked down by vandals.
Engr. Yakubu said the project has the full support of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the top leadership of the security agencies and appealed to State Governments, Local Government, Communities and other stakeholders to join hands with the NNPC to stamp out pipeline vandalism for the growth of the economy.
The GMD confirmed that all the refineries were running at different levels of effectiveness, noting that TAM for PHRC has been scheduled for April this year.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of the Pipelines and Products marketing Company, PPMC, Prince Haruna Momoh, said with the two hundred and fifty eight tanks in the twenty one depots and a holding capacity of 2.6 billion litres of petroleum products and with the over 5,000km network of pipelines across the country, the NNPC is ready to constantly wet the nation with products.
He assured Nigerians that the NNPC would continue to do all within its ability to ensure that fuel queues remain a thing of the past.
Speaking on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff, Brig. Gen. Emeka Okonkwo said it is the duty of the army to support civil authority and that the army is in Arepo to re-establish the right of way of the NNPC pipeline from Mosimi to Ibadan within ninety days assuring that the military engineers would deliver on its mandate.
It would be observed that the management of the NNPC mobilized the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police and the Nigerian Civil Defence Corp to the NNPC System 2B artery in Arepo after the January 12th pipeline break to check the tide of pipeline hacking in the area.
*Noel Loja, SweetCrude
