26 July 2013, Gusau – Scores of youths took over Awala Quarters in Tudun-Wada area of Gusau, Zamfara state, on Thursday to scramble for fuel from NNPC’s burst pipe.
Some residents told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Gusau on Thursday that they had never seen such quantity of petrol flowing freely.
They said the commodity suddenly started gushing out from the earth in the early hours of Wednesday.
Lawali Usman, one of the youths said “we started perceiving the smell of petrol at about 3a.m. When we came out, we saw the product gushing out in large quantity from the ground.
“Many residents, including youths and housewives, woke to the commotion as it was time to eat before the Ramadan fast. The place was filled with various sizes of containers.’’
He said the scooping of fuel lasted for nearly five hours before the arrival of the police and men of the state fire service who came around 8 a.m. and cordoned off the place.
Musa Zakari, a secondary school student said, “working with my younger sister, Rafeeah, we got and sold the petrol and realised N7,400 from road-side sellers.’’
NAN further gathered that the residents were joined by other neighbours who were contacted through cell phones.
Many of the residents who pleaded anonymity expressed joy, saying that the “burst is from God as succour over the current hardships we are facing.’’
The Operations Manager of NNPC Depot in Gusau, Mr Shehu Isheyi, confirmed the burst but said that only his superiors in Kaduna Refinery were competent to speak on the issue.
NAN reports that the pipeline receives petroleum products from Kaduna Refinery to the Gusau depot.
