BY DAMOLA EMMANUEL
Eleven days after the petrol tanker disaster that killed 12 people and consumed 54 vehicles in Lagos, what would have been another major fire disaster occurred in Niger State on Sunday.
But for the timely intervention of fire fighters, and other first responders, the nation would have, perhaps, been in mourning again.
Though no life was lost in the explosion from a vandalised pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, at Dogbo Pogo community, several people were reported to have sustained various degrees of injuries.
A news bulletin monitored on Channels Television reported that the injured persons were caught up by fire while scooping fuel from the compromised pipeline.
Several farmlands and many houses across the over 20 villages affected by the incident were also consumed by the inferno, which took firefighters some time to curtail.
The leading TV Station also reported seeing officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, the Nigeria Police Force, as well as those of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, NISEMA, at the scene of the fire.
Fires from fallen petrol tankers and vandalised NNPC pipelines are common in Nigeria. On Thursday, June 28, 2018, a fuel-laden tanker fell on the Otedola Bridge along the Berger axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, killing 12 people, including a tot, and consuming 54 vehicles.
On Sunday, July 1, 2018, a gas pipeline exploded in Ilara, a community near Ogijo in Ogun State, exploded after being attacked by vandals. The week before, the same pipeline had been ripped by the petroleum products thieves who reportedly left the valve open after concluding their unholy business, according to reports.
Luckily, no life was lost because the fire that ensued was speedily stopped.
For more, see analysis in our opinion page written by The Crest correspondent, Taiwo Farotimi.
