A petroleum pipeline explosion yesterday killed over 50 people in Umu Nwankwo, Umuimo Njiko Umunna and Umuaduru communities in Osisioma LGA of Abia State. The explosion, it was gathered, was from an old NNPC pipeline which supplied PMS from Osisioma depot to Enugu and Kaduna through Umuimo and Umuaduru.

While unconfirmed reports said more than 50 persons were burnt to death, Newsmen who visited the two sites counted about 10 corpses at Umuaduru alone. Eye witnesses explained that some members of the community who were able to identify their dead relations evacuated their bodies before the arrival of security agents. Some of the injured victims were said to have been taken to an undisclosed hospital, but some died after arriving at the hospital.

Chuks Benson Uzoije, a native of Umu Nwankwo of Umuimo in Njiko Umunna, Osisioma, a pipeline guard who works with UTM Offshore Limited, said:  “Yesterday, as we were on duty around 8pm, we got information that there was leakage on the line. All the surveillance gathered and started calling the people in-charge from Port Harcourt to Kaduna.

“They told us that government was not doing anything with the old line, that the attention of government was on the new line. They said government didn’t pay them to repair the two lines unless government wants them to renegotiate their terms of contract. For over three years, the old pipeline has been bad and it’slong they carried repair works on it.”