The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has asked the Federal Government to carry out forensic investigation of the immediate and remote cause of the Abule Ado explosion of Sunday March 15, 2020, which killed scores and led to devastation of epic proportions.
The group in a statement issued in Lagos by Head, Media & Campaigns, Philip Jakpor, also called on the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-olu, to immediately set up a Special Task Force on pipelines security with the purpose of preventing ceaseless pipeline accidents in the state.
The group noted that government must conduct comprehensive investigation to establish if this was a crime or an accident as there are many questions begging for answers.
The Sunday morning blast occurred near the popular ASPAMDA market and Mechanic village in Abule Ado, Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area.
Vibrations from the blast shook many parts of the state and was felt as far as Iba, Okokomaiko, Agege, Alimosho, and Surulere, among others.
The Lagos government had earlier stated the incident was not in any way linked to pipeline vandalism but could not provide details on the cause of the incident but the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, insisted it was caused by a truck that hit some cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant located near the corporations’ system 2B Pipeline right of way.
Among the casualties of the explosion were a Reverend Sister, Henrietta Alokha, who is also the Principal of Bethlehem High School, Abule Ado and some students of the school she was trying to rescue.
A family of four that were on their way to church also died, as well as a newly-wed couple who were said to be expecting a child.
Many are still unaccounted for and suspected to be under rubbles in collapsed houses.
ERA, however, cautioned the Federal Government not to be too casual to conclude that the incident was an accident, noting that the accounts of the NNPC on the real cause of the blast is unconvincing and raises some questions.
ERA’s Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “There is something suspiciously different about this explosion. The scale of destruction is nothing like any of the pipeline explosions we have monitored and documented for several decades.
“The Sunday incident’s scale of destruction could only be likened to military grade explosions or aerial bombardment. We can’t treat this casually as an accident caused by a truck.”
