Pipeline fire kills 2, razes houses, vehicles in Lagos

Two men were killed and over 20 vehicles, houses and property worth millions of naira were on Thursday burnt at Ijegun, in the Igando/Ikotun Local Council Development Area of Lagos state following an early morning pipeline explosion.

Despite the gallant efforts of fire fighters who responded promptly to put out the blaze, the fire which started at about 1.20 a.m. raged for over eight hours, consuming anything on its path.

Fire fighters from the Lagos state Fire Service arrived early to the scene at about 4:00 a.m. and had reinforcements from other stations in the metropolis, as well as emergency personnel from the Lagos state Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Affected by the fire are parts of the Ijegun Community Primary and High School, the Catholic Church fence and several other buildings.

According to dependable sources in the area, the explosion occurred following the activities of vandals who tried to escape with a tanker loaded with stolen petroleum products siphoned from the pipeline.

Nearby residents living several kilometres away from the fire point at the Isheri community and Kudeyibu Estate scampered from their homes in panic as the flames escalated and spread close to a petrol station in the area.

Security agencies in the state drafted their officers to the fire scene and nearby areas to assist in the evacuation of people from their homes.

Traditional ruler of Ijegun, Oba Nureni Akinremi, regretted that in spite of several efforts to orientate some miscreants in the community against pipeline vandalism, some have failed to heed such warnings and be law -abiding.

“I have made several efforts to speak with my people through my chiefs and community leaders, yet, some people have remained adamant. We really need to keep the security agents on regular surveillance in this area because it was the same area that was affected in a similar incident some 11 years ago,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the fire has now been contained to the pipeline, even though thick and black smoke was still bellowing from some spots around the incident area.