WorldStage Newsonline– Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has faulted the story by BBC titled: ‘BBC Africa Eye uncovers new evidence that contradicts the official explanation for the Lagos explosion in March’, saying its sides of the story sourced by the author were not reflected.
NNPC in a statement on Tuesday acknowledged that the BBC Africa Eye, in the tradition of true journalism, sent a questionnaire to it requesting for response to the allegations, including claim that victims of the explosion were not compensated, but that 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.
BBC had in its report circulated on Monday claimed that new evidence it obtained contradicted the official explanation for the cause of an explosion which killed 23 people and destroyed a girls boarding school in Lagos, Nigeria.
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the country’s state-owned oil firm, claimed the explosion occurred as a result of a truck that hit gas cylinders near one of its petroleum pipelines. But new evidence indicates this official explanation for the cause of the blast, that decimated over 100,000 square metres of Lagos, is incorrect,” the report said.
NNPC said its response to the BBC Africa Eye questionnaire, dated August 28 included that 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..
The Corporation said it 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 said it stated further that residents of the area engaged in LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) vending, saw-milling, cement trading, auto repair, cooking, roasting and other activities inimical to a pipeline right of way.
“The eye-witness reports we got indicated that the explosion occurred when the above-mentioned truck hit cylinders at the LPG shop,” NNPC stated.
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 liquid from its pipeline at the point of the explosion prior to the incident.
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.”
The Corporation said it 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.
The Corporation also 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 Government in providing a N2billion relief fund for the victims.”
