Umuahia — Senator Theodore Orji (PDP, Abia Central) has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to quickly address the pipeline leakages in the state.

Speaking at the weekend when he visited the affected Umuaduru and Umuimo communities in Osisioma Ngwa Council to sympathise with them, he urged the authorities to declare the scene of the incident a disaster area.

The immediate past Abia State governor said that the explosion and the resultant deaths would have been averted, if the NNPC and its subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) that manages the pipelines, had acted appropriately when community leaders reported the leakages to them.

The senator, however, advised his constituents to desist from scooping fuel from leaking pipelines or any illegal source to avoid the disastrous consequences.

Welcoming the senator, chairman of Osisioma Ngwa Council, Hon. Ositadinma Mgbeahuru, told the senator that despite the invitations to the PPMC by the leaders on three occasions to inspect the leakages and do the needful, the company remained adamant.

According to the council chairman, the pipeline fire was due to "neglect by PPMC" and not vandalism.

The deputy chief technical officer in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Sani Balas, corroborated the assertion that the explosion was not caused by pipeline vandalism.

He assured the senator that the matter would quickly be taken to the relevant federal agencies for necessary action, stressing that further pumping of products through the leaking pipes without sealing them would endanger people's lives.

For the loss of lives and property due to the Friday inferno, youths of Osisioma Ngwa staged a peaceful to the Osisioma Aba NNPC depot yesterday.

The youths carried with them the remains of a victim, whose burial was fixed for same day, and observed five minutes silence at the entrance to the depot.