A probe by BBC Africa Eye into the Abule Egba explosion which wreaked havoc and killed about 23 people has shown the actual cause of the explosion as opposed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) explanation of the causation.
It will be recalled that the explosion occurred at about 8:56 am on Sunday 15th March 2020 in Shoba, Abule Ado, Lagos State. The explosion hit Bethlehem Girls College, miraculously none of the 300 students present died. However, the school’s principal, Sister Henrietta Alokha died alongside 23 others, which includes a newlywed couple; Chisom and Emmanuel Uyamadu with their unborn child.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had attributed the explosion to gas cylinders hit by a truck in the area where NNPC has its pipelines. A story that absolves the corporation of any responsibility.
However, emerging details from the investigation by BBC Africa Eye show that the blast which decimated over 100,000 square meters of the city was actually caused by a leak of vaporized flammable liquid from an NNPC pipeline which had ignited.
Based on the video evidence filmed five minutes to the explosion, it revealed the catastrophic leak of vaporized liquid at the exact location where the NNPC high-pressure petroleum pipeline runs beneath the ground through that area.
Furthermore, the BBC found there was no gas processing plant at the explosion’s epicenter. As a matter of fact, analysis of gas cylinders found at the site after the blast indicates they could not have been at the center of the explosion when it happened.
The BBC contacted the NNPC which denied any negligence on its part. The report disclosed that NNPC reaffirmed their explanation for the explosion’s cause, and said there was no leakage prior to the explosion.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, had announced that a N2 billion relief fund had been set up for victims of the explosion. He also announced that a committee had been set up to investigate the explosion.
InlandTown! 2020
