The House of Representatives has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to protect pipelines in Alimosho Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos state against vandals.
This was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion of Urgent National Importance by Rep. Olufemi Adebayo (APC-Lagos) at the plenary on Thursday.
The green chamber also called on the NNPC to provide reliable emergency phone numbers for inhabitants of the community to call when they sight vandals.
Moving the motion earlier, Adebayo said that a fire outbreak occurred recently resulting in the deaths of 12 people in Alimosho LGA.
He said that there are underground pipeline belonging to the NNPC in the area which are often vandalise by hoodlums to scoop petroleum products.
The lawmaker alleged that the vandals sometimes are accompanied by policemen to scoop the products.
According to Adebayo, in 1999, leakages from vandalised pipes polluted that environment and we could not drink water from wells and other sources.
He said that there are no hotlines to call when the inhabitants sight vandals in the community.
In his ruling the Speaker, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila (APC-Lagos) mandated all the relevant committees to ensure implementation of the adopted motion.
The house had resolved to investigate the incident of fire outbreak along the NNPC pipeline in Kom Kom and lzuoma communities of Oyigbo LGA of Rivers on Tuesday.
This was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion of Urgent National Importance by Rep. Chisom Dike (PDP-Rivers) at Tuesday’s plenary.
The green chamber mandated an ad hoc committee to conduct a thorough investigation into the explosion and it observed a one-minute silence as mark of respect for those killed by the inferno.
The house urged the NNPC and the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) to quickly ensure thorough repairs of the pipeline.
The legislators also urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant government agencies to quickly send relief materials to the victims.
Dike narrated that in the early hours of Saturday, June 22, 2019 at about 8:25 am, there was an incident of fire outbreak in Kom Kom and lzuoma Communities of Oyigbo LGA of Rivers.
He said that the fire outbreak which occurred along the NNPC facility was as a result of pipeline explosion.
The lawmaker alleged that the explosion occurred due to the negligence of PPMC and NNPC.
He said that the PPMC and the NNPC were unable to carryout repair work on the leakage several days after the leakage was reported.
He said that the PPMC and the NNPC also failed to ensure the deployment of the appropriate security personnel to guard the facility against the possibility of scooping of petroleum products by residents.
Dike said that the casualties were people who rushed to the scene of the pipeline leakage to scoop petroleum products as well as innocent people working on their farms early that morning.
According to the parliamentarian, until now the number of lives lost is unconfirmed because majority of the casualties are burnt beyond recognition while many were fully and partially buried in the marshy area.
He said that it was confirmed that scores of persons were recorded dead in the unfortunate incident.
Dike said that farmlands, crops and other properties worth several millions of naira had been damaged as a result of oil spillage and wild fire accompanying the explosion.
In his ruling, Gbajabiamila mandated the committee to report back to the house within four weeks.
