Residents of Alagbole Cele bus stop, a busy Community in Lagos/Ogun State suburb are currently living in probable tension, as pipeline vandals are said to be scooping fuel from the shallow pipe that passed through the community.
Just like it happened few days ago at Abule-egba in Lagos, residents of this community said they have been noticing activities of vandals around the area as the whole environment now smells of petroleum products.
Some even alledged that they have been noticing night movements of suspected vandal’s vehicles at odd hours. They said if care is not taken, the Abule-egba experience may be just a little story compared to the magnitude of destruction this alagbole pipeline might caused.
I paid a visit to the environment yesterday, Saturday January 25, 2020 to witness what the residents described as a very disturbing odour of petroleum products and to my dismay, the community is actually sleeping on a loaded barrel. The entire Ifelodun community (they are the closest) smells as if they were bathing with petrol. The odour was so obvious that people gathered in twos to discuss it.
They were equally discussing the suspicious movement of an unidentified military man who always disappeared into the tick forest moments after being noticed around the area.
Although bushy, the pipeline was cleared recently and a joint military force monitoring the activities of vandals were around to check few days ago, but with this latest development, hardly would you see anyone around that area that can sleep with both eyes closed.
One of the residents of the area who simply identified himself as Mr. Olatunji said, “few days ago, I heard that the community arrested a man who was seen with kegs of fuel and some packaged inside nylon materials but, it seems as if the issue have been buried.”
Mr. Olatunji therefore, called on the Lagos and Ogun State Governors to as a matter of urgency address the situation before it becomes a catastrophe.
Activities of vandals have in the couple of days ago, caused serious havoc in Lagos State, most recently the Abule-egba, Lagos State pipeline explosion.