Over 100 NNPC Pipeline Vandals Die In Arepo

Sympathisers wept profusely in Arepo area of Ogun State
yesterday as no fewer than 110 suspected petroleum pipeline vandals were
roasted to death. The incident occurred along the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) pipeline.

Leadership gathered that the vandals were scooping fuel when
it ignited the fire, which raged for several hours.

When this reporter visited the scene, some survivors and
other people were seen trying to put out the inferno.

Some people could not identify the corpses of their family
members and friends, while those who recogised their relatives moved the bodies
in canoes.

The management of NNPC was said to have called the policemen
attached to the Inspector General of Police Special Task Force on Anti-Pipeline
Vandalism.

Some policemen were stranded because of the swamp, and could
not reach the scene where corpses were being removed.

One police officer said, “The vandals attacked members of
OPC. We were, however, invited by NNPC to come and secure the area while
repairs will be done on the security post. People who were roasted in this
inferno should be 110. The best thing to use here is helicopter because it is
not motorable”.

The newly posted officer in charge of the taskforce,
Valentine Olumese, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) who was also at the
scene, said that the police had completed plans to take over the protection of
the area. “The tent that was destroyed will be repaired and access to the scene
will be created. Our men will maintain presence.”

Leadership