Oil pipeline explosion ‘kills five’ in Imo

The Imo police command says no fewer than five persons have been killed in an explosion that rocked the Obiti community in Ohaji/Egbema LGA of the state.

Henry Okoye, spokesperson of the Imo police command, said the incident occurred on Tuesday, and blamed vandals for the explosion.

Okoye said Aboki Danjuma, the Imo commissioner of police, has set up a team to unravel the immediate cause of the incident and arrest fleeing culprits.

“It happened on Tuesday and about five persons lost their lives during the explosion. They were burnt beyond recognition and we are currently investigating it in collaboration with other sister security agencies to unravel the identities of those behind the economic sabotage,” Okoye said.

“They went for their normal pipeline vandalism when the incident occurred.

“Our goal is to make sure similar incidents do not occur in future.”

An eyewitness who is a resident of the community, said the vandals stormed the Obitti rubber estate in the area with an articulated vehicle, and dug through to an oil pipeline traversing the area.

“They dug a hole on the pipeline and connected their long pipe to their tanker to steal oil,” the source told TheCable.

“I cannot say exactly what caused the explosion, but I know and from what I saw, many people died, and many others, who narrowly escaped the inferno, sustained various degrees of injuries.

“The fire that raged for hours burnt the tanker and also affected our farmlands, destroying our produce worth millions of naira.”