Recently, petroleum pipeline vandalism led to an explosion in the Abule-Egba area of Lagos, claiming lives in the process. In this piece, TOLA ADENUBI reports Alimosho residents’ apprehension after experiencing three such fire incident in 2019, as well as their pleas to government and other stakeholders’ to intervene and present recurrence before another occurs.
For residents of Peace Estate in Baruwa, Graceland Estate, and Gloryland estates in Isheri-Olofin -all in of Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, sleeping with one eye open has become a norm due to the activities of petroleum pipeline vandals who normally come into the pipeline road separating these three estates at odd hours of the day, break pipes and siphon fuel from petroleum pipelines in the area.
When the Nigerian Tribune visited the pipeline road that runs through the three estates, it was observed that a section of the road which has a canal and is swampy has been overgrown with weeds, thereby giving vandals more cover and opportunity to break pipelines and siphon Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at will without being apprehended.
Investigations also revealed that these vandals take away their loot by water via a canal that separates the three estates along the pipeline road. The canal, which has a wooden bridge constructed over it to ease vehicular and pedestrian crossing, lies along the swamp covering the petroleum pipelines behind Peace, Graceland and Gloryland estates.
The pipeline road and the canal serve as a demarcation between Peace Estate in Baruwa and the other two estates, Graceland and Gloryland estates in Isheri, all in Alimosho. The three estates are not fenced out from the pipelines due to the swampy nature of a section of the pipeline area.
Tales of woe
According to a resident who also double the vice chairman of Peace Estate, Adedeji Omojowo, vandals attacked the petroleum pipelines three times in 2019 and the explosion that followed caused residents of Road 12 and Road 10 inside the estate to run out and abandon their homes for days until the fire was put out by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
“2019 was horrific for us in this estate and we pray government does the needful in this New Year so that we don’t experience what we experienced last year. Petroleum vandals attacked the pipelines three times last year. The first time was around March, the second time was around June/July and the third time was in early December.
“For three days in December, estate residents in Road 12 and Road 10 abandoned their homes because the fire raged on for three days unchecked. It was when the NNPC arrived on the fourth day that the fire was put under control,” Omojowo recounted.
When asked how the vandals access the petroleum pipelines, Omojowo explained: “These vandals come in through Isheri-Olofin area just behind Peace Estate to break the already weak petroleum pipelines. Peace Estate is located in Baruwa area while the other two estates are in Isheri area. There is a canal and a swamp (where these petroleum pipelines are buried) serving as demarcation between Peace estate and the other two estates. When the vandals puncture the pipelines, they insert long hoses to the leaking portion of the pipelines and siphon petrol into bags and drums which are then taken away via the canal.
Omojowo said: “However, during the siphoning of petrol by these vandals, the whole Estate becomes submerged with the thick smell of petrol. All our drainages, particular the drainages in Road 12 and Road 10, become filled with petrol, and it takes just one lightning of cigarette or spark to ignite the pipelines.
“The explosion of December 2019 happened around 4am and many residents who were in their bathroom preparing to go to work ran out of their homes naked because nobody knew where the fire was coming from. Anytime there is explosion, we will just see that the whole pipeline area behind our estate is englufed by thick smokes of burning fire. Houses on Road 12 and Road 10 are usually empty in minutes because that section of the estate is not too far away from the petroleum pipelines.”
When asked what action the estate takes anytime the pipeline vandalism leads to an explosion, the Peace Estate vice chairman stated that they usually call the NNPC who quickly arrive to control the fire.
“We have the numbers of the NNPC officials people in charge of handling fire outbreak from petroleum pipeline vandalisation, so when the actions of these vandals lead to fire, we quickly call them to come and control the ravaging fire.
“However, the last fire of December 2019 raged on for three days, and we have asked the NNPC to come and build a base around the petroleum pipelines to avoid situation where they get easily broken by vandals.
“We in Peace Estate think the permanent solution to this is for the NNPC to build a base around the pipelines because in some sections of the pipeline road, some of the petroleum pipelines are exposed due to erosion of the soil covering them over time.
“Aside the swampy section of the pipeline road which is now overgrown with weeds and provides cover for the petroleum pipelines, in some other sections, you can see the pipelines because erosion has removed the soil covering them over the years, and they are visible to the ordinary eyes.
“Anytime these vandals puncture the petroleum pipelines, the thick odour of petrol in our estate gives us the hint that these vandals have struck again. Immediately, we start informing residents not to light a like fire or burn refuse in the estate. However, there are religious centres behind the estate, across the pipeline road, that engage in incense burning. These religious centres, once they start burning their incense, the next thing we will hear is a loud explosion and the fire will run along the line where the vandals have laid their hoses, burning anything in sight.
“Once this happens, there is confusion in the estate. People run out of their homes because nobody knows where the fire is coming to. All we see is thick smoke everywhere. The sky will become black with smoke and fire will be raging everywhere.
“The NNPC has always responded to our calls. We even gave them an office space in our estate so that they can be with us permanently and monitor the activities of the vandals.
“We don’t know why the NNPC cannot repair the petroleum pipelines because many of them are weak. In this estate, we buy water because our boreholes have been contaminated with petrol. Our drainage systems have petrol in them.
“The last fire outbreak in December burn for three days. Many property owners who have properties around Road 12 and Road 10 have sold their houses because of fear of an explosion in the dead of the night.
“Government should come and repair this weak petroleum pipelines and build a base around them to avoid future pilfering of fuel by vandals. We don’t want these vandals to kill us. Government should please come to our aid.”
Empty houses, unreliable security systems
When the Nigerian Tribune visited Road 12, it was observed that the houses at the tail end of the road were empty and abandoned. Some which are still being built have also been abandoned.
Further findings also revealed that despite the hiring of a private security firm to watch over and secure the petroleum pipelines located in this area, petroleum vandals in 2019 alone siphoned Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) three times along the stretch of the pipeline area without being arrested.
In the words of another resident who simply identified himself as Mr. John, the salaries of the Pentagon Securities officials stationed to man the petroleum pipelines are not encouraging. This makes it easy for vandals to occasionally wreak havoc in the area unhindered.
“As landlords in Peace estate, we have approached the officials of Pentagon Securities manning the petroleum pipelines to know if they are well motivated and taken care of but what they told us is that they are on a monthly salary of N25,000. ‘How do you expect somebody with a monthly salary of N25,000 to adequately man petroleum pipelines that carry products worth millions of naira? If these security officials are given N50,000 to look the other way just for one day, won’t they compromise security?
There is no extent these vandals cannot go just to siphon petrol. At times, some landlords in this estate approach the security guys with food and other incentives just to boost their morale because we know they are poorly remunerated. We are the ones that own properties in this estate, and we are the ones that live in these estates with our families, so we know what we go through once there is an explosion.”
Festac pipelines
The presence of military personnel at the Festac petroleum pipelines located at the end of 7th Avenue would not allow this reporter go near the pipelines. They simply said they were acting under instructions.
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