• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

7 months after explosion, another pipeline leakage puts Abule-Ado residents on red alert

7 months after explosion, another pipeline leakage puts Abule-Ado residents on red alert

Barely seven months after a major pipeline explosion rocked Abule-Ado in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, killing 23 people, displacing hundreds, injuring several others and destroying properties worth billions of naira, fear has again enveloped that vicinity over another pipeline leakage.

The leakage, BusinessDay can confirm, is coming from around the same area where the March 15, 2020 explosion erupted from.

Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, director-general, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), confirmed to BusinessDay on Saturday that the agency has been alerted to a pipeline leakage in the area and put its officials at alert.

“We received an alert about it and we have activated the state emergency response plan,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.

Read also: Abule Ado explosion: Haastrup calls for relocation of Apapa tank farms

“The agency and other first responders intend to remain on high alert,” he said, adding that the NNPC has also been informed of the incident and is activating its own repair teams.

On Friday evening, BusinessDay observed that the area around the leakage had been cordoned off with emergency responders, including the Fire Services, on standby with their trucks.

“Members of the public are cautioned to proceed with extreme caution in and around the area to prevent any form of explosion or ignition from naked flame or other activity,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.

“We will continue to provide updates,” he said.