*473 vandals arrested in six months
The Atlas Cove Jetty, one of Nigeria’s imported fuel depots located near the Lagos Ports Complex, Apapa, was engulfed by fire yesterday.
The incident followed oil thieves’ attempt to steal refined products from a pipeline supplying inland fuel depots.
Our correspondents gathered that the fire outbreak occurred on Tuesday night when thieves cut the pipeline before loading petrol into a boat at a place known as Ilado, a swampy part of the Atlas Cove. Petroleum products are discharged and pumped from the Atlas Cove jetty to Ejigbo, Mosimi, Ore, Ibadan and Ilorin depots.
It was learnt that the fire, which covered the jetty and its environ was, however, put out some hours later with the intervention of officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and those of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.
Petroleum Products Marketing Company, PPMC, spokesman, Mr. Nasir Imodagbe, confirmed the development, saying that the boat which the thieves used for the illegal operation caught fire, which extended to the pipeline.
He, however, could not confirm whether there were casualties.
“We do not know for now whether lives were lost. But the fire was extinguished to enable us carry out repairs,” the spokesman said.
He added that the repairs had been completed and pumping of petroleum products had been restored to ensure that there was no fuel scarcity.
Spokesman for NEMA, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said the fire incident started about 4a.m. and officials of the agency got to the site at 6.25a.m.
He said that the fire was caused by pipeline vandals, who were extracting refined products.
Farinloye also said that on arrival at the scene of the incident following a tipoff, officials of the agency met those of the NNPC trying to shut down supply to the affected pipeline.
It was, however, gathered that the fire was put out at 10.46a.m. with the help of a combined team of NNPC and NEMA officials.
The NEMA spokesman added that the agency recovered about 200 empty 50-litre jerrycans at the scene of the incident, stressing that casualty figures were still unknown as at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, Assistant General Manager of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mr. Musa Iliya, who also confirmed the incident, noted that it was caused by pipeline vandals extracting refined products.
He said that the authority was liaising with other relevant agencies to ascertain the casualty figures.
But the Western Naval Command stated that no casualty was recorded in the fire outbreak.
Spokesman of the command, Lt.-Cdr. Jerry Omodara, said: “The situation has been brought under control and when I spoke with the Commander, NNS Beecroft, Commodore Chris Ezekobe, he confirmed that he had already deployed some officers to the area to access the level of damage.
Omadara said that following the explosion, the vandals took to their heels before a team comprising of officials of NEMA, police and other security agencies arrived the scene.
He said that the fire was put out by the NNPC officials who shut off flow of product to the pipeline before it was extinguished by men of the fire service.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has said that not less than 473 offenders have been arrested within the first half of the year in connection with oil theft, illegal refineries and other related offences.
Commandant General of Corps, Dr. Ade Abolurin, who stated this yesterday at a quarterly meeting with states and zonal commandants expressed optimism that such vices would soon be a thing of the past.
He said the commission has mapped out new operational tactics toward ensuring that insecurity and vandalism are stamped out.
“This event was to restrategise and map out new operational tactics toward ensuring that insecurity such as vandalism, oil theft, the menace of illegal oil refineries which has become a serious threat to all sectors of our economy are put a stop to,” he said.
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