Arepo: Bodies of vandals float on creeks

The bodies of four suspected vandals were found at the scene of Saturday’s pipeline explosion at Arepo, Ogun State on Sunday.

The bodies, which were found in the swamp around the explosion site, had little sign of burns.

Even though the fire had reduced when our correspondents got to the scene on Sunday, emergency workers said the situation was still precarious as there was need to completely put out the fire.

Spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said evacuation of the bodies would begin later on Sunday.

He said, “Our assessment show that more bodies will still be inside the swamp. This is why we cannot give a specific number of casualties at the moment.

“Two of the bodies found seemed to have floated up from the water. It is likely that more bodies may float later. But we will start the recovery of the bodies found as soon as Red Cross officials and medical team of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation arrive.”

Farinloye said there was a technique that could be applied to make the bodies of other casualties that had sunk in the water to float.

He, however, explained that it was necessary for the state in which the pipelines were domiciled to contribute to tackling the menace of vandalism “instead of shifting blames.”

“The state is expected to mobilise traditional institutions and residents, who know the terrain to assist in intelligence gathering,” he said.

Deputy Manager, NNPC, in charge of Pipeline Rights of Way, Mr. Obinna Otuu, explained at the scene that the repair of the damage on the pipeline would take less than a day.

“Fuel supply through the damaged point has been shut off since Saturday, but the repairs will be concluded before tomorrow (Monday). So, there won’t be any fuel scarcity,” he said.

Otuu, who is in charge of all pipelines in the South-West, said fuel marketers might start hoarding fuel to create scarcity if the pipeline was not repaired on time.