A pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) exploded in the Abule-Egba area of Lagos on Sunday, killing at least two persons.
Ibrahim Farinloye, acting zonal coordinator of The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the south-west, confirmed this to NAN on Sunday.
The raging fire caused panic among the residents of Abule Egba, Ile Epo and Ekoro road. Thick smoke billowed from the explosion scene.
Farinloye said several buildings and articulated vehicles were engulfed in the inferno which happened on Sunday night.
He noted that the cause of the incident had yet to be ascertained, saying that emergency responders immediately swung into action after receiving distress calls from some residents of the area.
“NEMA and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) officials are here. The Lagos State Fire Service officials are here trying to put off the fire,” he said.
“We have contacted NNPC to shut down the pipelines and so far, we have been able to recover two bodies.”
Olufemi Oke-Osayintolu, director-general, LASEMA, also confirmed the incident in a statement.
“A raging fire from the explosion of a vandalised NNPC pipeline has caused panic among residents within Awori, U-turn and Pipeline communities in Abule Egba,” he said.
“LASEMA, Lagos Fire Service are responding and are on top of the situation.”
Some residents blamed the incident on activities of vandals.
Magret Adeseye, director-general of Lagos State Fire Service, said three trucks were been moved to the area to put out the fire.
“The fire is still on, but under control, we deployed Agege, Alausa and one other fire stations to the area. The cause of the fire incident is still under investigation,” she said.
This is coming less than a month after an oil pipeline running through Glory Land estate around Isheri Olofin, Egbe-Idimu local council development area of Lagos state, exploded and burnt properties in the area.
In 2018, there was a pipeline explosion in the Abule-Egba area caused by the alleged activities of pipeline vandals.
Properties and vehicles worth millions of naira were consumed in the inferno, which also resulted in an oil spillage.