The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria
(ERA/FoEN) has called on the federal government to carry out a forensic
investigation on the explosion that rocked Lagos on Sunday.
Scores were killed and more than 50 houses destroyed in the
explosion.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had said
the explosion happened when gas cylinders were hit by a truck in the area where
NNPC has its pipelines.
But Akinbode Oluwafemi, ERA/FoEN deputy executive director,
said the explosion could be likened to some military aerial bombardment and
does not sound like pipeline explosion.
“There is something suspiciously different about this
explosion. The scale of destruction is nothing like any of the pipeline explosions we have monitored
and documented for several decades,” the statement read.
“The Sunday incident’s scale of destruction could only be
likened to military grade explosions or aerial bombardment. We can’t treat this
casually as an accident caused by a truck.
“With the current security without conducting forensic
investigation on this particular blast. Not even the accidental detonation of
bombs at the Ikeja cantonment caused this scale of destruction and ruins.
Government must conduct comprehensive investigation to establish if this was a
crime or an accident.
“And there are questions begging for answers: Who drove the
truck? What is the truck doing on a pipeline on Sunday morning? Was the gas
plant opened on a Sunday? Was the content of the truck weaponized? And for the
NNPC that has admitted some level of culpability by confirming that the primary
explosion came from its gas truck, it should immediately initiate the process
of providing remediation for the affected families and businesses while its
officials found to have through negligence orchestrated this massive
destruction should be made to face the law.”
The group asked the federal government not to conclude that
the incident was an accident, adding that the accounts of the NNPC on the real cause of the blast is “unconvincing
and raises some questions.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com