Abule Egba Fire: Oil marketers advocate tougher penalties for pipeline vandalism

<p class=””>Ahmed said government should enact a law that would enforce live imprisonment for pipeline vandals.</p>

<h1>Some oil marketers have called on the Federal Government to impose tougher penalties against petroleum pipeline vandals, saying the act affects the socio-economic growth of the nation.</h1>

<p class=””>Alhaji <strong>Debo Ahmed</strong>, Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Western zone chairman, gave the advised in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday in Lagos.</p>

<p class=””>NAN reports that spillage from a tanker siphoning petrol from a vandalised pipeline at Abule Egba, a suburb of Lagos, in the early hours of Wednesday, burst into flame, razing several houses and vehicles.</p>

<p class=””>Ahmed said government should enact a law that would enforce live imprisonment for pipeline vandals.</p>

<p class=””>He said some known vandals walk the streets freely two months after arrest, adding that such scenario was ridiculous.</p>

<p class=””>He said such vandals would begin to threaten those that tipped off relevant authorities to effect their arrest.</p>

<p class=””>“<em>The security personnel securing the pipeline should be questioned or changed completely as it was alleged they also compromised,’’</em> he said.</p>

<p class=””>He claimed that some<em> “bad eggs’’ </em>among the NNPC officials were collaborating with the vandals to siphon petroleum products.</p>

<p class=””><em>“In the past, if Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, (PPMC) pumped 500,000 litres of water, all the water would get to destination without a drop siphoned.</em></p>

<p class=””><em>“But, today, if PPMC pumps 500,000 litres of petroleum, it will be very hard to receive 50,000 litres out of it. About 450,000 litres would be siphoned by these vandals.</em></p>

<p class=””><em>“How do they know the actual time they are pumping these products if not that there are saboteurs among officials of PPMC?’’</em> he said.</p>

<p class=””>The IPMAN helmsman said if the government could impose tougher penalties against the vandals, they would desist from the act.</p>

<p class=””>Alhaji <strong>Ayo Alanamu</strong>, the IPMAN Chairman, Ejigbo Satellite Depot, urged government to reshuffle the surveillance security personnel monitoring the pipelines as most of them had compromised.</p>

<p class=””>Alanamu said government should pronounce immediate execution of any vandal caught siphoning products from the network, adding that this would serve as deterrent to others.</p>

<p class=””>He urged the NNPC to protect petroleum pipeline network across the country with monitoring gadgets to track down vandals.</p>

<p class=””>He said that the measure was necessary due to the increasing activities of vandals in the pipeline areas.</p>

<p class=””>The IPMAN boss said if electronic gadgets were installed on the pipeline network in the area, it would alert security agents whenever the pipelines were being vandalised.</p>

<p class=””>According to him, the size of the network and the inadequate security coverage give the hoodlums the opportunity to vandalise the pipelines.</p>

<p class=””>“<em>We appeal to NNPC and security agencies to redouble their efforts in protecting pipelines because residents within the locality can no longer sleep with their two eyes closed.</em></p>

<p class=””><em>“We are imploring the government to help us to get rid of these people because their activities can cause a lot of damage to the entire community,”</em> he said.</p>
Source: News

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