Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa, with agency report
Police have confirmed a major Nigerian oil pipeline exploded in Bayelsa State, at the weekend, forcing nearby residents to flee.
The Nembe Creek Trunk pipeline runs from an oil terminal in Bonny, to Bayelsa state, with capacity of 150,000 barrels per day.
The explosion occured last Friday.
“We have not been officially briefed on the incident, but, it occurred.
“No lives were lost as a result of the explosion and we can’t confirm if it was an attack by militants or an equipment failure; unless the people managing the facility go there” to determine the cause, Bayelsa Police spokesman, Asinim Butswat, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP), also known as the French press agency).
Nigeria, a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is Africa’s biggest producer of crude oil.
A public relations official for Aiteo Oil Exploration Company, Ndiana-Abasi Mathew, the company that manages the pipeline, confirmed the incident in a text message last Saturday.
“There is no official statement at the moment but, I can gladly inform you that the fire has been contained and no lives were lost,” Mathew said.
Regardless, a local chief from Kalablomi, Oyinkro Jasper, one of the affected communities, said the blast forced hundreds of residents to flee as it caused “a huge inferno,” along the pipeline, which ran through six communities.
Meanwhile, the Nembe Chiefs Council of Nembe Communities, in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa, has sent a protest letter to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC); over the explosion which rocked 97 kilometre Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL).
The Friday explosion was said to have triggered panic forcing many residents of communities around the area to flee.
The community is accusing Aiteo of alleged negligence and concealment of the gas explosion which it said has displaced scores of indigenes.
Spokesman of the Nembe Chiefs Council, Chief Nengi James Eriworio, alleged that Aiteo concealed the incident with its refusal to inform the monitoring authority of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and other relevant agencies for verification and necessary action; within two hours of occurrence.
According to him, the community is calling on NNPC to sanction the company for its concealment; which they argued violates the law of the land.
While noting that the gas explosion has displaced people and is posing grave danger to the health of the people, he added that the community would not hesitate to call for the revocation of Aiteo’s licence
The letter read in part: “On behalf of Nembe Chiefs Council, I wish to call on NNPC to sanction Aiteo company for concealing a high level of leakage and gas explosion at their facility at Nembe Creek.
“It is an offence by law, for an oil-producing company not to forward such aforesaid incident to NOSDRA, and other relevant agencies for verification and necessary action.
“As a community (Kingdom), we will not take it kindly for exposing our indigenes to environmental and health danger.
“We will not hesitate to call for the revocation of Aiteo’s licence. What happened at Nembe Creek, near Well 7, is unacceptable and seen as gross abuse of environmental rules and regulations.
“We urge the Director General of NOSDRA, and others, to visit the site of the incident, for confirmation and for the record.”
However, in a swift reaction, the management of the Aiteo said the resulting fire from the explosion, which burned till last Saturday, has been put out and there was no loss of life.
A top official of the company, who confirmed the incident, said although there is no official statement from the company, the fire has been contained and nobody died.