A fire disaster was averted at the weekend at Alafara community in Ido Local Government area of Oyo State by security agents and fire service men, when the area, saturated by petrol from a vandalised pipeline of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), was cordoned off and eventually salvaged by officials of NNPC.Sunday Tribune gathered that the residents were alerted in the early hours of Friday by some people who had perceived the strong smell of premium motor spirit, otherwise known as petrol.
The chairman of the landlords’ association, Alhaji Kamorudeen Aderibigbe, with other community members, reportedly traced the direction of the odour until they found the point of vandalism.
Aderibigbe was said to have put a call through to the officer in charge of Ologuneru police post, ASP Ajinde who in turn called the Divisional Police Officer, Eleyele Division, DSP Olawole Ayoola to inform him of the development.
After he was told to move to the site immediately, Ajinde who met the fuel gushing out of the vandalised pipe with great force, reportedly mobilised the youth of the area to cordon the area so that vehicles would not be able to access the area to avoid a spark.
Senior police officers, including the Deputy Commissioner in charge of operations, Musa Kimo; Area Commander, Iyaganku, Chris Luke; DPO, Apata Division, SP Abiodun Agboola and Ayoola also moved down to the community immediately to assess the situation.
Kimo was said to have positioned the people while additional policemen were also deployed from the command headquarters to secure the place so that the people would not attempt to scoop fuel.
He also informed the NNPC officials so that they could stop pumping the petroleum product and also instructed the police control room to call the fire service.
The police were later joined by some officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) while a fire service truck was put on standby in case of any eventuality. The fire service officials also sprayed compound foam on the spilled fuel to so that it would not be usable again.
Some residents of the community decried the delay in the coming of the NNPC officials after they were alerted, saying that it took over one hour before the pumping was stopped.
When Sunday Tribune got to the community, the odour of petrol could be perceived at over 200 metres distance and on getting close, the highly inflammable liquid had formed a river, flowing freely.
It was noticed that even after pumping of the fuel had been stopped, petrol was still flowing from the vandalised point while the NNPC engineers strove to find the point of vandalism to stop the flow.
Several litres of petrol were continuously scooped out, all to no avail, until a pumpimg machine was later brought in the evening to pump the fuel out of the pit dug by the vandals.
It was gathered that the spillage was eventually stopped late on Friday evening, while repair work still continued on Saturday.
The chairman of Ido Local Government, Professor Olowofela visited the scene and a reliable source told Sunday Tribune that he kept giving the governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the situation report.
The chairman of Alafara landlords, Alhaji Aderibigbe, told Sunday Tribune that he was informed of the incident around 6a.m. on Friday by the secretary of the association. “Everybody panicked. Till now (the time of interview), you could still perceive the odour.”
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