Disaster looms as NNPC abandons broken pipeline

A major disaster may soon befall the residents of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, following the failure of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to fix a ruptured pipeline that has remained unattended to for days.

Beside the danger posed by the ruptured pipeline, the country is also said to be losing billions in oil revenue as a result of the bust pipeline, which occurred at Kilometre 407.5 Zuma village, in the Federal Capital Territory.

Reliable sources said though the incident has been reported to the appropriate quarters, the NNPC has not taken any remedial action on the issue.

The spillage which has been running for the past seven days now covers a landscape of about 2, 000 square metres, polluting a river which the local community said was their only source of water.

Mr. Yelo Sarki, who is a youth leader in the area, said their lives are in danger if the NNPC failed to take appropriate steps against the spillage. He described the situation as a disaster waiting to happen.

While condemning the insensitivity of the NNPC on the incident, Sarki called on the Federal Government to come to their rescue.

The Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Dr Ade Abolurin, who led a media team to the spot yesterday, said his men were on guard to prevent vandals from taking advantage of the situation.

He stated further that there have not been any incident of villagers trying to scoop the oil in the area, noting that the area must be protected from criminals.

“Our advocacy is that when there is an incidence and it is reported, urgent attention is required to save the lives and property of the citizens.

“As you see this river, when you look at it from the Koton-Karfe axis, the area around Lokoja and this axis (pointing to Niger State area), and from our monitoring of the situation and surveillance, we have seen that the vandals normally come through this area at night.

“We have been here since we commenced operation. It is a terrain we are used to,” he stated.