The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has denied culpability in last Friday’s pipeline explosion that left scores dead in Umuaduru and Umuimo communities in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State.
The NNPC made this known in a Thursday statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu.
The corporation maintained that rather than negligence on its part as being alleged in some quarters, the “incident was triggered off by suspected oil thieves who had hacked into System 2E pipeline network of the corporation with a view to intercepting the flow of petrol from Port Harcourt to Aba”.
Ughamadu said the clarification became necessary in view of the recent statement by a legislator indicting NNPC on the fire outbreak which had claimed lives and valuable properties.
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The NNPC spokesperson explained that the presence of items such as jerrycans, among others, at the scene of the incident as contained in the preliminary report on the matter indicated that the activities of vandals in the area ignited the flame.
He regretted that incessant vandalism of pipeline facilities along System 2Ex Pipeline Right of Way (PROW) has led to the underutilisation of the Enugu Depot, saying that the breaches have prevented the corporation from pumping fuel into it.
He called on relevant government agencies to collaborate with the corporation to appropriately criminalise vandalism of oil facilities across the country, adding that host communities should also partner the NNPC to tame the scourge.
Ughamadu prayed that God reposes the souls of the innocent ones that perished in the incident, even as he warned members of the public against tempering with oil facilities which he described as inflammable.
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