File Photo: NNPC high pressure petroleum pipelines

The Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said hoodlums vandalized pipeline at Aboru, Iyan-Ipaja, for fuel theft.

Oke-Osanyintolu made the disclosure after the LASEMA Response Team (LRT) discovered the unlawful operation in Lagos.

Some months ago, pipeline explosion occurred at Abule-Egba which rendered 300 people homeless before the government moved them to the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camp at Igando.

However, Oke-Osanyintolu said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had been carrying out routine maintenance and suspected vandals took advantage of the situation to engage in fuel theft.

He said that LASEMA response team observed liquid gushing out of the NNPC pipeline, but no injuries or fatalities were recorded at the scene of the vandalism.

He said a combined team comprising LASEMA, Lagos State Fire Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Police and Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency (LNSC) worked with the NNPC maintenance team.

“The repair has been concluded while the agency is constrained to remind residents of the commitment of the state government to the safety of lives and property,” he said.

Oke-Osanyintolu, however, urged Lagos residents to report any unlawful activity along the petroleum products pipeline to the appropriate authorities before it got out of hand.