The accident happened at Lokoja, the capital of Kogi state, after the truck’s brakes failed and its driver lost control. (Photo by Haruna Yahaya / AFP)
The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has said that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Africa Eye investigation on the Abule-Ado explosion clearly aligned with its view that there was something suspiciously different about the incident.
CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “The investigation also exposed the fact that the myriad of government agencies and security outfits that descended on the epicentre of the blast to investigate what happened only fed Nigerians lies.”
He said that efforts of the BBC Africa Eye team of journalists digging out the facts of the incident had further exposed the culpability of the NNPC in the myriad of pipeline explosions across the country.
According to him, “BBC Africa Eye has exposed a case of criminal negligence against NNPC officials who allowed a truck to be on the pipeline possibly for several days. What happened to those billions of naira NNPC budget for pipeline surveillance every year?
“Nigerians are entitled to the truth. They deserve to know and see justice done in cases like this. That was why we called for a forensic investigation of the blast when it happened. The BBC has graciously conducted that investigation, the government refused to do. Nigerians are, however, waiting for the government to act on these startling revelations.
“Those who caused such manner of deaths and destruction as a result of their negligence must be prosecuted. Nigerians must know the owner of the truck that caused the incident and what the truck was doing atop a gas-conveying pipeline owned by the NNPC.”
However, a statement by CAPPA’s Director of Programmes, Philip Jakpor, in Lagos, said that with the spate of pipeline breaches and gas explosions across the country, there was also the need for the introduction of adequate and stringent regulations on how and where Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and petroleum products are stored and conveyed throughout the country.
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