Abia rallies FG, other stakeholders to remediate Owaza pipeline explosion site

Okey Kanu, the state Commissioner for Information, disclosed this while responding to questions during a press briefing on the outcome of this week’s State Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti.

Kanu said that the government is pursuing immediate remediation measures in the affected area, while engaging operators and regulatory authorities on long-term interventions aimed at improving infrastructure integrity and public safety.

He noted that the Commissioners for Petroleum and Environment had undertaken an on-the-spot assessment of the affected community and coordinated the distribution of relief materials to families impacted by the explosion.

According to him, preliminary information available to the government suggests that deteriorating infrastructure may have been responsible for the incident, and expressed the need for the replacement and upgrade of ageing pipeline facilities.

“The Commissioner for Petroleum was there last week together with the Commissioner for Environment, who happens to come from that community. They visited the place and assessed the extent of the damage.

“Some relief had been brought to the families affected, but most importantly, they are in touch with the federal authorities and all the relevant stakeholders in the oil industry on whatever they may need to do in terms of ensuring that this does not recur.

“This is because we have got information that what happened may have been as a result of old equipment installed there for a long time.

“So, maybe a solution would be for them to come down and ensure that new pipelines and bolts and nuts are fixed there”, he said.

The commissioner assured residents of the state government’s commitment to restoring normalcy in the affected communities and stated that no fatalities were recorded in the explosion.