EXPLOSION ROCKS ABULE EGBA COMMUNITY IN LAGOS

His words, “we were sleeping in our room when we heard noises from outside and people started running helter skelters, packing their goods from their shops. As you can see, the explosion was caused by the leakage from this pipeline here (at Awori). The vandals broke the pipeline from its source here and the fuel leaked through the drainage from here up till Abattoir’.

He added, “the fire however didn’t start from here. It started from Abattoir area and then started tracing the oil spill back to this point where the leakage occurred. In the process, many cars and houses and offices were burnt.”

Penpushing further reports that, as at the time of visit to the scene,  officials of the fire service, Civil Defence corps and the Lagos State Emergency service were seen preventing residents from going near the source of the fuel leakage.

However, it was also observed that a car mart, located in front of a popular shopping mall adjacent Abule-Egba Under-bridge, was completely razed as cars worth millions of naira were burnt beyond recognition.  Three containers and a tipper, burnt beyond repair, were placed at the spot.

Speaking with an official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defenec Corps(NSCDC),who prefer annonimity said the various agencies are making efforts to fix the source of the leakage to prevent further leakages and explosion.

Penpushing also reports that, a residents, Emmanuel James who spoke  confirmed that the inferno began from the other end, at Abattoir, before it spread back to the source of the spillage at Awori area of the community.

He said, “I think the fire must have started (at) Abattoir where people are burning cow meat and other things. The culvert on the road protected many of the residential areas along this road. It would have been a different thing entirely.”

Penpushing further reports that, the Chairperson of traders at Abule Egba, who identified herself as Kudirat, lamented that traders have been rendered penniless as a result of the explosion, appealing that the government would need to conduct investigations into the incident and fish out the perpetrators.

The Chairperson also appealed to the Lagos State Government to come to the rescue of traders and residents who had their goods and property burnt in the explosion, just as residents residing in houses surrounding the source of the leakage called on security agencies to look into how the bunkering was carried out.