NNPC. |
A plot may be afoot to damage Nigeria’s interests by attacking the integrity of certain institutions of government to discredit them for yet unknown reasons.
A
recent report by the BBC Africa Eye on the pipeline explosion that occurred in
Sabo, a Lagos suburb, on March 15, 2020 appear to fit a pattern of media
blackmail of critical government institutions, especially the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
The
report said the BBC Africa Eye had obtained new evidence which contradicted
NNPC’s official explanation on the cause of the explosion which claimed 23
lives.
NNPC
had claimed at the time that the explosion occurred as a result of a truck that
hit gas cylinders around the petroleum pipeline, where people had turned into a
residential and commercial area contrary to regulations and in blatant
disregard for the pipelines right of way.
But
the media house said its evidence – a five-minute video and three sources (said
to be experts in petroleum pipeline safety) – showed that there was a leak of
“vaporized liquid” from the point of explosion on the pipeline.
The
media house then said the evidence indicated that there was inadequate
protection of the pipeline from soil erosion and that the NNPC failed to
maintain industry standard.
The
BBC Africa Eye, in the tradition of true journalism, sent a questionnaire to
the NNPC requesting for the Corporations response to the allegations, including
claim that victims of the explosion were not compensated.
But
the medium breached all rules of balance and objectivity when it published the
report of its investigations without reflecting the position of NNPC to all the
allegations raised.
The
media house portrayed the report as premeditated when it sent it out to some
local media in Nigeria, including this website, with a plea to help
republish.
But
the NNPC response to the BBC Africa Eye questionnaire, dated August
28, obtained by this website, contained details of its own
investigations and conclusions which were ignored.
The
Corporation responded to all the five allegations put to it in details,
insisting on its initial explanation that the explosion was caused when a truck
heavily laden with stones hit gas cylinders around the pipeline..
In
a detailed response addressed to Marc Perkins, editor of the BBC Africa Eye,
the Corporation insisted that a truck, heavily laden with stones, was in
the vicinity of the explosion, which clearly “indicated that it was
instrumental to the explosion. A close look at the area would show that most of
the people carrying out their businesses there were in breach of the
Corporation’s Pipeline Right of Way which is 15 meters on either side of
the pipeline.”
The
NNPC stated further that residents of the area engaged in LPG (Liquefied
Petroleum Gas) vending, saw-milling, cement trading,
“The eye-witness reports we
On
the claim that there was a leakage on the pipeline which released vaporized
liquid that caused the explosion, the Corporation stated that there was no
leakage of PMS or any other vaporized
Instead,
it said, “At about the time of the explosion (0852hrs to 08S7hrs), a pressure
drop from 42 to 8 bar was observed during our pumping operations and the
pipeline was immediately shutdown. Any leakage prior to the incident would have
resulted in a drop in pressure. But that was not the case.
“It
must also be noted that both Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Premium Motor
Spirit (PMS) are petroleum products that essentially burn the same way. Since
there was an LPG vending shop at the location, it is more likely that the
incident was caused by LPG explosion. The incident was typical of gas
explosion.”
But
curiously, a report on the explosion circulated in the local media by BBC
Africa Eye made little or no reference to the official response of the
Corporation, but instead repeated claims made by its sources which were at
variance with the official explanations it requested from NNPC.
Its
only reference to Nigeria’s official explanation was to its third and fifth
allegations that the pipelines were not well protected and that the Corporation
did not pay compensation to victims of the explosion.
But
even the NNPC’s responses to the allegations were largely ignored, and got only
a passing mention.
The Corporation had described claims of inadequate protection of the pipeline against erosion as incorrect, and that the pipeline was not exposed at the vicinity of the explosion, but that “the pipeline was excavated to enable repair works after the incidence and the area has since been restored and the pipeline re-commissioned for operations.”
According
to the document, the Corporation insisted that its pipelines were designed
“operated and maintained in strict compliance with the safely and regulatory
guidelines of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and API/ANSI/ASME
standards,” maintaining there was no issue of negligence in terms of ensuring
the integrity of the pipeline.
In
conclusion, the Corporation stressed that despite the fact that
the explosion was not caused by any negligence on its
part, it still worked closely with the Lagos State
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