Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — No fewer than 20 persons have lost their lives in an oil condensate explosion from a pipeline operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, in Obrikom, near Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Witnesses said the explosion occurred over the weekend at a waterside in Obrikom community on the Obiafu I and II pipelines in ONELGA, a major oil and gas hub in Rivers State, as people were scooping the product into containers from a tapping point on the hacked pipeline.
An eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said while 20 persons were feared dead, many suffered varying degrees of burns and were receiving treatment in different hospitals in the area, including Omoku General Hospital.
Confirming the development, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has condemned the acts that led to the fire explosion on the Agip pipeline in Obrikom, Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government of Rivers State.
Rivers State Commandant of the NSCDC, Basil Igwebueze, said the fire explosion would not have occurred if the Nigerian Agip Oil Company pipelines were not vandalised by desperate individuals.
Igwebueze explained that the content being scooped was condensate oil, which, according to him, was not the same as Premium Motor Spirit, contrary to reports in some quarters.
He said: “Information reaching us on the fire explosion suffice that some unscrupulous elements manoeuvred their way to the pipeline, vandalised it and started scooping fuel.
“As a matter of fact and without sounding immodest, the Commandant General of NSCDC, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, in strong terms condemn all activities amounting to economic sabotage. We would continue to partner with sisters security agencies most especially the already constituted joint security taskforce to combat the menace of illegal oil bunkering activities in Rivers State.
“We commiserate with families of the deceased and those who sustained various degrees of injuries. Notably, during the explosion about four farm plantations were destroyed, 12 persons lost their lives while others were badly injured; all these could have been avoided if our people in Rivers State understood that any act of vandalism or attack against oil pipelines would have a degrading effect on the community, the lives and property of people and the nation’s economy at large.”
