There was pandemonium yesterday at the Atlas Cove Jetty belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as one of the pipes within the facility exploded due to activities of vandals.
Sources within the downstream sector of the petroleum sector confirmed to Shipping Position Daily yesterday that the incident started around 1am on Wednesday as vandals reportedly attacked one of the petroleum pipelines.
There was pandemonium yesterday at the Atlas Cove Jetty belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as one of the pipes within the facility exploded due to activities of vandals.
Sources within the downstream sector of the petroleum sector confirmed to Shipping Position Daily yesterday that the incident started around 1am on Wednesday as vandals reportedly attacked one of the petroleum pipelines.
Even though the cause of the fire could not be ascertained as at press time, eye witnesses confirmed that at about 3pm yesterday officials of the Federal Fire Service were still struggling to put-off the fire.
There were conflicting reports of the cause of the fire as some sources claimed that it started when a vessel that was trying to discharge diesel at the jetty caught fire, while another report claimed that the fire started as a result of vandals attacking one of the pipes.
However, when he was contacted by our correspondent, the Director of Maritime Safety of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Capt Waredi Eniosuoh said that the agency is not aware of the development.
The development caused jitters at the popular Ibru jetty which houses the facilities of many tank farms as well as at similar facilities in Apapa, Lagos.
But, the Pipeline Products and Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC confirmed later that the fire was caused by pipeline vandals at Ilado, a community on the Atlas Cove.
Manager, Media Relations and External Affairs of PPMC Mr Nasir Imodagbe, told reporters in Lagos that the vandals broke the pipelines to siphon petroleum product.
Imodagbe said the fire incident at the high sea in Lagos was caused by a group of vandals who came with their canoe to siphon the product.
He said that the fire which moved through the pipeline toward the Atlas Cove Jetty, was put off by the officials who were on ground.
“We have shut the product network from Atlas Cove to allow repair of the damaged line immediately,’’ he said.
Imodagbe, however, assured Nigerians and Lagosians not to panic as adequate measures had been put in place to combat the menace.
“We are going to reopen the shut line immediately the repairs are effected today. The Ilado community area is being known for notorious pipeline vandalism,’’ Imodagbe said.
Some community leaders at Ilado village, who preferred to be anonymous, alleged that the security agencies had compromised with the vandals on the offshore area of the pipelines.
They recalled that in 2010, when the Atlas Cove was attacked, the Nigeria Police Force attached a Mobile Police Unit to keep surveillance over the place.
According to them, there is a high level special security squad at Ilado, yet vandals perpetuate illegal act.
The community leaders stressed the need for government to further review the activities of the security agencies in the village.
“The activities of the vandals, if allowed to continue will endanger the lives of residents of the community and tagged the community as the spotlight of oil pipeline vandalism,’’ one of the leaders said.
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