Senator Theodore Orji (PDP,
Abia Central) has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to
quickly address the pipeline leakages in the state.
Speaking at the weekend
when he visited the affected Umuaduru and Umuimo communities in Osisioma Ngwa
Council to sympathise with them, he urged the authorities to declare the scene
of the incident a disaster area.
The immediate past Abia
State governor said that the explosion and the resultant deaths would have been
averted, if the NNPC and its subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company
(PPMC) that manages the pipelines, had acted appropriately when community
leaders reported the leakages to them.
The senator, however,
advised his constituents to desist from scooping fuel from leaking pipelines or
any illegal source to avoid the disastrous consequences.
Welcoming the senator,
chairman of Osisioma Ngwa Council, Hon. Ositadinma Mgbeahuru, told the senator
that despite the invitations to the PPMC by the leaders on three occasions to
inspect the leakages and do the needful, the company remained adamant.
According to the council
chairman, the pipeline fire was due to "neglect by PPMC" and not
vandalism.
The deputy chief technical
officer in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Sani Balas,
corroborated the assertion that the explosion was not caused by pipeline
vandalism.
He assured the senator that
the matter would quickly be taken to the relevant federal agencies for
necessary action, stressing that further pumping of products through the
leaking pipes without sealing them would endanger people's lives.
For the loss of lives and
property due to the Friday inferno, youths of Osisioma Ngwa staged a peaceful
to the Osisioma Aba NNPC depot yesterday.
The youths carried with
them the remains of a victim, whose burial was fixed for same day, and observed
five minutes silence at the entrance to the depot.
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