Burst oil pipelines, security of lives, properties and Nigeria’s economic wellbeing

It was a typical day for these men seeking spiritual solution to the problems of their lives in a country where the soaring cost of living was fast suffocating the life out of her citizens.

These men had gone to a nearby stream to have a bath, in a cleansing rite as prescribed by the Pastor of one of the white garment churches. This site was situated along the Right of Way of one of the many pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

They had no reason to be apprehensive about having a spiritual bath to wash off poverty from their destinies. Unknown to them, few meters away from them, men of the underworld were doing their normal operations. An operation that involved hacking into the pipes to syphon refined and combustible petrol.

Unfortunately, for them, this was one morning that would end up becoming the last they would witness on earth. A spark and then an explosion that would quickly lead to the fire that eventually consumed their Lives. The supervising Pastor could only escape with a 70-degree burn.

That was how the pipeline fire that shook the length and breadth of the Egbe-Idimu axis of Lagos State on December 5, 2019 ignited. The fire began at about 8am and lasted virtually through the rest of that day before the combined efforts of the Lagos State Fire Service and NNPC anti pipeline fire fighters could put out the fire.

INCREASING PIPELINE EXPLOSIONS

The NNPC has said that the rate at which pipelines of major oil companies are being sabotaged in Nigeria has continued to increase, stating that it rose by 115 per cent in July 2019.

In a statement issued by its acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Samson Makoji, the NNPC explained that a record number of 228 points were vandalised on the country’s pipelines in the month under review.

This information, the statement said, was contained in its July 2019 Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), adding that the breached lines represented an awful increase from the 106 vandalized points recorded in June 2019.

According to it, out of the vandalized points, 15 failed to be welded, while five points were ruptured.

The report also stated that the Aba to Enugu axis accounted for 35 per cent of the breaks, while Port Harcourt to Aba pipeline route recorded 22 per cent, with Ibadan to Ilorin route recording 16 per cent of the breakages.

Similarly, it said the Lagos Atlas Cove to Mosimi Zone logged 12 per cent with other locations recording the remaining 15 per cent of the breaks.

This was one of the many fatal breaches to the NNPC pipelines located along the axis.

Similarly, no fewer than 10 persons were killed with dozens of houses and vehicles burnt when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline at Ijegun, a Lagos suburb, was vandalized, resulting in a huge explosion. The vandals were said to be transferring the stolen petrol to their trucks when security agents appeared, and in their desperation to escape arrest, spilled some of the fuel into drains and set it on fire.

Unlike the Ijegun episode, Residents of Peace, Gloryland and Diamond Estates among others were lucky, the inferno did not go beyond the point where the act was committed.

Although, the fire was later put out just as many others before it, the source and cause of the pipeline attacks remain alive within and around these estates.

The issues involved go far deeper than what is seen on the surface of the frequent incidents of petroleum product pipeline operations of these vandals. The evil eating the intestines of Nigeria’s economy reside within these housing estates. Some go as far as procuring landed properties around the axis of these illicit trade to have unhindered access to the pipes.

Many months ago, some foreigners had bought a building within the Diamond Estate. In the course of drilling borehole water for their house, they discovered petrol. Rather than report the discovery to the appropriate authorities, they decided to make a secret fuel depot out of the place.

They operated that dangerous and illegitimate petroleum product facility without detection for many years until they became greedy. They owed one of their drivers about three months salary. In protest, the gentleman, a Nigerian, decided to hold on to one of the cars of his employers. Out of anger, the foreigners, who had acclimatized themselves to the ‘Nigerian factor’ way of life, arrested the man and threw him into jail with the help of their Police friends.

To avenge his unjust treatment, the jailed driver spilled the beans and exposed the criminal operations of his employers. “That was how we woke up one morning to the presence of the highest military presence I have ever seen in my life, in our estate…” said a resident of the Diamond Estate.

The operation was conducted by a combined team of the Army, Navy, Airforce, Police and men of the Civil Defense corps.

But for the whistle blower, these foreigners would have continued their sabotage of the Nigerian economy. If they had been nice to their Nigerian employees, perhaps, it would have taken a tragic incident of a humongous proportion and fatal dimension which would obviously have led to the death of many and loss of houses and other properties in this estate before that illegality would have been brought to the attention of the nation.

This is the menace residents of these and other estates located along the Right of Way of the NNPC pipelines in Lagos State.

Currently, residents of Diamond Estate are battling to take precautionary measures against the entrenchment of the interests of the perpetrators of heinous acts. For instance, at the back of the estate is a swampy land alleged to have been illegally procured by a son to one of the monarchs in the Egbe-Idimu communities. The immediate concern for the Estate, according to the some of the residents, is the fact that by the time the place is built up with houses, it would be the difficult for the water that slopes down into the swamp from the estate to have its right of way.

The piece of land is closer to the Right of Way of the fuel pipes than the estate itself and so, erecting structures on the space would give more discreet, easier and unimpeded access to the pipeline, to would-be owners of the different plots of land.

The conspiracy theory being mouthed in hushed tones among those who live in the estate is that the Prince is bent on acquiring the piece of land which is said to belong to the Federal government through the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in order to sell the property to pipeline vandals who have enough money to buy plots.

Diamond Estate is a 550-resident strong residential area in the Egbe-Idimu axis built on a piece of land owned by the FHA, including the swampy one at the back of the estate.

Wonderful architectural masterpiece houses, laced with beautiful designs adorn the housing estates within the location of the NNPC pipelines. Most of these houses are said to be owned by vandals who make hundreds of millions running these rackets. They are powerful people within these communities and they are feared by their neighbors, who have been bullied not to talk to the media or leak the secret of their trade to the authorities.

According to residents, who would not allow their names mentioned, let alone their faces to be shown on television or pictures in newspapers, these vandals build or buy the best houses in the area and they ride the expensive cars in the community.

They are the Mafia running the communities along this axis and they have friends in power and the hierarchy of the Nigerian Security Agencies, the NNPC, the FHA (in the case of the Diamond Estate).

Not even the capture of Shauibu Ogunmola could deter the determined and deadly members of this illicit business.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Tuesday, January 22, 2019, announced the capture of Mr Shuaibu Ogunmola, an alleged notorious oil pipeline vandalism kingpin.

The illegal activities of Shuaibu, through the years, had caused NNPC to lose millions of liters of products along the Lagos Atlas Cove strip in the strategic System 2B pipeline network.

According to the NNPC, Ogunmola was captured at his luxury hotel in Ilashe community, along the Badagry Creek by officers and men of Operation AWATSE, a Joint Military Task Force on oil theft and pipeline vandalism anchored by the Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos.

The corporation explained that investigations revealed that Ogunmola had operated a thriving oil theft racket for decades, hacking pipelines in some island communities in Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State along the System 2B network right-of-way.

Providing details on the mode of operation of the Ogunmola-led syndicate, the NNPC said the gang executed their illegal trade by digging holes metres away from the corporation’s products pipeline, which essentially served as storage tanks for products directly siphoned from the lines at a hack point.

These holes, which were cast in drums, received products simultaneously from the labyrinth of pipelines connected to the trunk line directly linked to the ruptured NNPC line.

The products so harvested are later scooped or transferred into jerrycans and drums and are sold to ready buyers that usually throng the beach side.

From that point, the products were shipped to Cotonou, which had a firmly established market for smuggled Nigerian fuel.

Commenting on the significance of the arrest of the notorious oil theft kingpin, the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Obed Ngalabak, who doubles as the Commander of Operation AWATSE, said the feat was the beginning of a well mapped out strategy to halt the menace of pipeline vandals across the zone.

He explained that Ogunmola was the ultimate godfather of oil thieves in Ilashe and adjoining settlements where he consigned portions of his territory and offered operating rights to other thieves to operate and bring in returns at agreed rates and terms.

Twelve months down the road, since the January capture of the kingpin, the operations of vandals continue as usual, costing the country billions and causing communities untold hardship and avoidable stress.

In 2017, according to documents, NNPC spent over N112 billion from oil revenue that should have gone to the Federation Account to repair vandalized pipelines in 2016 alone. This was higher than the N103 billion the corporation spent in 2015 to repair vandalized lines. Yet, the problem persists. In the past decade, more than a trillion naira that could have been used for development was expended on repairing pipelines.

The ramification of the consequences of pipeline vandalization of Nigeria’s oil company’s infrastructure has seriously disrupted the smooth distribution of petroleum products across the country. NNPC and its subsidiary, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, were reported to have discovered several locations from where petroleum products were being siphoned from ruptured pipelines between November 2015 and February 2016.

Consequently, petroleum products such as gas, fuel and kerosene could not be adequately supplied through the depots, thus, leaving the depots in a state of moribund. This has given rise to the perennial problem of fuel scarcity in the country.

Nigeria lost N12.566 billion in one month (March 2016) due to petroleum products theft and vandalization of the facilities of the NNPC. According to Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, Nigeria’s oil production dropped to 1.637 million bpd in April and further slid to 1.1 million bpd in May 2016. This criminality is said to have been partly responsible for the inability of the NNPC to consistently meet its contractual obligations to its international trading partners with regard to the supply of natural gas.

This is evident in the case of supply of gas to Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic through West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP).  Ghana, for instance, barely received a third of the volume of gas contractually required for most of 2015. As a result, Ghanaian officials lamented severally about the unreliability of gas supply by WAGP, which had become a major reason for electricity outage in their country.

Consequently, the unreliable gas supplies from Nigeria to these countries deprived her of considerable revenue that could have been realized in the sale of gas in West African subregion. This erodes the development of Nigeria’s economy especially in the gas sub-sector as a veritable resource for rapid economic growth.

Additionally, pipeline vandalism is a major threat to the safety of critical national assets especially those pertaining to oil industry. Pipeline vandalism and oil theft were said to be largely responsible for the collapse of national grid in May 2016.

Arepo community, in Ogun state, described as “the republic of vandals”, has caused the death of more than 200 persons including nine members of security personnel as a result of the activities of pipeline vandals between January, 2013 and July 22, 2015.

Constrained by this endless danger and costs to the nation, Thisday, in its July 10, 2019, Editorial, suggested that a comprehensive study of the integrity of NNPC’s pipelines across the country be undertaken to ascertain the level of their operational credibility. Perhaps, that could give an idea as to why they are easily hacked into by vandals. Also, the corporation, in tune with modern pipeline management trends, should commission and deploy standard processes to monitor and guard its pipelines from potential intrusion, in addition to relevant government agencies collaborating with the corporation to appropriately criminalize vandalism of oil facilities across the country.

Most importantly, the NNPC, should aim at cultivating the cooperation of pipelines host communities and villages where pipelines pass through, to help it identify and deal with intrusions on its lines. We believe that when local communities are genuinely part of the process of securing pipelines, incidents of vandalism will be reduced to the barest minimum. These and many other issues would have to be addressed if Nigeria is not to continue to lose billions of naira to oil thieves while harvesting deaths from the pipelines.

It is important to note that the activities of these vandals, beyond costing the nation so much in economic damages, do far more harm to the lives of residents within these areas, socially and health-wise. For instance, when the explosion of the December 5, 2019 occurred, families were displaced, schools within the axis were shut. Some parents could not locate their children just as children cried looking for their parents who ran and left some of them in panic arising from a pipeline explosion, many likened it to the Ikeja Cantonment bomb explosion that occurred in January 2002.

Addressing this issue decisively should not be a challenge to the government because, the easiest and simplest solution would be for the government to either relocate all the housing estates around the pipelines right-of-way, or set up bases within this axis with the capacity for quick response and proactive detection of possible attacks among others.

What is highly required and could be the game changer in this seemingly intractable menace is a robust and unhindered intelligence that would easily expose this ring of doom around Nigeria’s national economic assets and infrastructure.

In Brief…

Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency (LASCOPA) has warned retailers who sell unwholesome or expired goods to unsuspecting consumers to desist from such or face the wrath of the law.
In its bid to promote consumer rights, against hazardous and sub-standard products through regular public enlightenment,  the General Manager of LASCOPA, Mrs. Kemi Olugbode gave the warning recently while speaking on a Radio Lagos programme “Ojutaye”, adding that the mandate of the agency is ensuring that consumers derive satisfaction from goods or services.
She disclosed that some suppliers of products and services have been discovered to be in the habit of altering the details of their products or services before delivering them to retailers with the aim of depicting their products as original or genuine.
Citing the recent sealing of a Supermarket in Surulere area of Lagos for continuous display and sales of expired products contrary to the provisions of the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency Law of 2014, Olugbode said that despite being served with compliance notice order, the retailer continued displaying and selling expired products.

The General Manager maintained that any form of deception and unfair trade practices will not be acceptable or tolerated in Lagos State and that LASCOPA was determined to ensure that consumers get value for their money, imploring entrepreneurs not to take advantage of the unfavorable business climate in the country to sell unwholesome products to consumers.
Similarly, Olugbode read the riot act to those who attacked government officials while performing their official duties, noting that it is unlawful and that anyone caught would be severely dealt with under criminal laws.
While soliciting for the understanding and support of Lagosians, she stated that aggrieved consumers can come to the Agency’s Office at Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, 2B, Soji Adepegba Close, Off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos to lodge their complaints or send it online to lascopa@lagosstate.gov.ng orlascopa@gmail.com for quick resolution and redress

Mile 2 – Tincan Island would be shut to traffic for 72 hours effective from Monday, December 9, 2019. This was disclosed in the media statement issued by the State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Fredric Oladeinde.

The planned closure, according to him, is to allow the State Government carry out palliative works on the bad portion on the axis without any vehicular hindrance.

According to the Commissioner “Effective from Midnight of Sunday, December 8, 2019, all vehicles and trucks carrying export products and empty containers for TinCan Port operations are to stay out of the corridor for the next three days so as to carry out the palliative work on the road”.

Oladeinde, however, explained that fuel laden-tankers and other cars on essential services are exempted from the directive, stressing that there is an urgent need to rehabilitate the corridor in order to ease traffic congestion and prevent further accidents involving articulated vehicles and trucks due to the deplorable condition of the road.

Consequently, the Commissioner urged Freight Forwarders, Fleet Operators, Transport Agents and Trucks Owners to take note of the traffic arrangement and comply accordingly, adding that any inconvenience arising from the closure is regrettable as the effort is aimed at improving vehicular movement in the region.