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So, as much as I sympathize with the victims of this latest pipeline catastrophe, there's a part ...Read the full article.

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".....Nigeria is full of contradictions. I have never seen a more intelligent group of people create their own misfortunes, fuel their own fires and dig their own graves. The average Nigerian thinks he's smarter than everyone else. We are smart alright but collectively we create the most stupid and unimaginable calamities. In a nutshell we are too smart for our own good. Too greedy to know when we are satisfied. Too arrogant to accept the flaws that exists. Too conceited and power conscious to allow those who can do a better job to go ahead and do so...."

At last, someone is saying the right thing. While we sympathise with the dead and those who lost properties, we also must be fair enough to lay the blame for the tragedy where it belongs----at the doorsteps of the greedy, the thieves and the criminals among our people!

It's only Nigerians----the mischievous and the politically-biased---who will always expect the govt to pick the minds of every citizen to be able to deter their criminal intents. It's only in Nigeria that we excpect our govt to force people to use over-head bridges to save their lives. It's only in Nigeria that we provide silly and crazy excuses for oil pipeline thieves, armed robbers, con-artists (419ers), money ritualists and even treasury looters----that it's the economy that drove them into it.

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ABULE-EGBA PIPELINE FIRE: We told them it’s dangerous business, but they didn’t listen
By Chioma Gbariel, Assistant Editor
Posted to the Web: Saturday, December 30, 2006



Residents of Abule-Egba spoken to by Saturday Vanguard say their neighbours who went after fuel paid no heed to advice
INDEED, it would take time for the residents of Segun Akinola Street in Awori area of Abule-Egba to recover from the disaster that befell them last Tuesday while the world was still basking in the euphoria of Christmas. To these residents, what was initially perceived as an opportunity for brisk and profitable business in this period of fuel scarcity back-fired, leaving in its wake, death, tears, lamentation, fear and sorrow.

The scene witnessed by Saturday Vanguard that Tuesday morning of December 26 was indescribable and beyond imagination. The charred remains of human beings whom nobody could identify as being male or female would take time to erase from memory. Some remains were so thoroughly cremated that they simply crumbled to ashes and there was no way any identity could be determined

The tales from the residents on what really happened varied from person to person. Some of the residents have packed out of the area and the people said, what happened was beyond what they had ever seen.

Despite attempts to cordon off the area after the incident, shocked residents, visitors, government officials and other curious on-lookers could not be warded off. As at Thursday morning after the whole area had been fumigated by the Red Cross, the neighbourhood was still swarming with people who walked around asking questions, lamenting and expressing regrets. Even some residential buildings and shops were not spared by the inferno.

An eye-witness, Elijah Michael who came to the Red Cross stand in the area to report the case of a missing relation, Charles Abaku, 23, said the residents were alerted of a burst pipeline in the early hours of Tuesday morning and naturally, everybody began to troop towards that direction. Some went to scoop fuel but many others simply went to watch what was going on. Most of the onlookers and those scooping fuel all perished in the inferno.

“When people started going, our Charles Abaku also left to watch. He had nothing on him. No gallon or bucket or anything. I saw him around 7 am Tuesday and by then, the whole place was a beehive of activities. Well, after the fire, we didn’t see him again. We have checked all the hospitals where the victims were taken to but he was not there. So, I came here to report him as a missing person.”

As at Thursday, over fifty persons have been recorded with the Red Cross as missing either because their corpses could not be identified or they were not in the list of those admitted in hospitals.

Mutiu ****tu who was earlier reported missing resurfaced on Wednesday to the joy of his relations. The age bracket of the victims are 9-40 years. Olawunmi Olaniyan came to report the case of Lekan Olaniyan, 27; and Deji Ahmed, 30, who also were seen on Tuesday morning before the inferno but have not been seen again after the fire. Olawunmi was not sure if her brother went to scoop the petrol or to just observe like many others did. “Lekan is an OND certificate holder of Business Administration from Lagos State Polytechnic. We didn’t see him take any jerry can but he went to watch like others.”

Arinze Ogboh, looking downcast lamented that his brother Emeka Ogboh, 30, went out Tuesday morning when the activity started.
“He left with nothing. He had no jerry can or bucket but then, he didn’t come after the fire. We have been to the hospitals to look for him but he is not in any of the hospitals. I’m sure he left for work that morning but he hasn’t come back. I cannot say if he went to the scene of the fire but we live here and everything happened at the same time. It’s obvious he was still in the neighbourhood when this fire came because there was so much activity and many people were just standing to look.”
Gbenga Adebowale also lamented that he is looking for two relations Sakiru and Walili who came to join the by-standers to watch the incident.

“They were standing just there,” he pointed. “Many people who were not scooping fuel were also standing. You cannot say what was going to happen but I know everybody was talking at the same time. There were warnings that people should stay clear but you know, nobody expected this kind of incident.”
Another eyewitness, Dotun said that security operatives came to help to clear the people who were scooping fuel but when the people resisted, the security kept their peace.

“I can tell you, some policemen died in the inferno because they were co-ordinating the scooping of the fuel. Some of them were even taking fuel themselves and they all died. Look at the Redeemed Christian Church there, the mai-guard there left his shop to come and take fuel and he has died. His slippers is still there in his shop where he kept them. His friend, mai-tea, also came with him and is dead. Their other friend was standing and looking. He is in a coma in the hospital. Look at the mosque there, some people there also perished in the inferno. Some of them did not come to take fuel. They were just standing and looking when the fire came. Some of these are innocent people.

“Look at that house, before the fire, the woman living on that floor warned her husband after he brought home the first gallon of fuel but he would not hear. He made another successful trip but in the third one, he did not succeed. Before the fire, the woman had taken her children out of the place. Is it not God that saved them? But the man got caught in the fire. It’s either he died in the fire or he is in coma somewhere. We foresaw all these and we were warning people, but they will not hear. If you look at it from another angle, there is fuel scarcity everywhere and fuel is wasting here. So, do you blame the people?”
A heavily bearded man in the area, simply called Alhaji told Saturday Vanguard that there are so many stories going on.

“But some are facts. Some are half-truths. But it is obvious that something happened here in the midnight. I heard some people came with tankers and successfully took fuel and left. They made many trips without any disturbance. But the neighbourhood perceived the odour of fuel much later and traced it to this place and naturally, the people responded. You can call it greed. You can call it poverty but the authorities were warned. Some policemen even came around but it seemed the crowd was too much for them.”

Obiora, a danfo driver told Saturday Vanguard that he almost discharged the passengers in his bus and refunded their fares so he could come and take fuel.
“On Christmas day, I slept at the filling station so as to get fuel. I stayed for four long hours to get fuel at an exorbitant price and then, here was fuel going for free. It was a huge temptation but you know passengers, some of them refused to come down or take back their money. So, I decided to drop them and then come back empty but by that time, I was hearing the sound of sirens everywhere. LASTMA officials and policemen were driving recklessly all over the place and when we got closer, we saw the thick smoke. We knew immediately that something has happened. So, in a way, the passengers saved us by being stubborn.”
Lawal Jamiu, looking dishevelled said his brother Waliu Lawal, 22, woke up Tuesday morning to go to his workshop at Alagbado.

“We were together around 7 am before he left. He is a bricklayer and had his working tools with him when he was going. But he got lost in the stampede. He didn’t get to his workshop and he is not in any hospital. He is missing but I know he didn’t come to scoop fuel. He must have been caught in the activity around here.”

In the hospitals, the stories are more sordid. When Saturday Vanguard visited Hamkad Hospital and Maternity Home, a list of nine survivors brought to the hospital was pasted at the gate of the hospitals. The names included Collins Johnson, Monday Akinwunmi, Kabiru Lawal, Kehinde Oremusu, Tijani Lanre, Samuel Adekunle, Kehinde Olambiwonnu, Semiu Ajasa and Femi Adekunle. On entry to the hospital, only Kehinde Olambiwonnu was in the ward. The rest were taken away early Wednesday morning but a patient in the hospital said most have died. The parents of Collins Johnson came to take him away Wednesday morning. The entire body of Kehinde Olanbiwonnu was peeled off and the sores were stinking. His wife who sat by his side said the family is doing something to take him to another hospital.

Perhaps, the most pathetic cases were those of families who all perished in the inferno. The case of Folake, aka Iya Sadiq was most pathetic as neighbours believe that the 35-year old woman perished with her three children — Kunle, Sadiq and another whose name we didn’t get. A neighbour said they all went to scoop fuel at the site of the burst pipeline.

Another resident, Fatimo also lamented the case of a pregnant woman with a baby on her back who got badly burnt.
“Although she is alive, I don’t think she can survive the ordeal because her whole body is peeled off.

At Orile-Agege General Hospital, where some of the victims were hospitalised, it was both a morbid and sordid sight. The isolated female ward of the hospital was set aside for the victims who included Akinlotan Segun, Kazeem Ibrahim, Mohammed Rilwan and Awonubi Tunde. These victims were in severe pains when Saturday Vanguard visited the hospital. Some were still in coma when the medical director, Segun Oshinyimika conducted the reporter around. Dr. Oshinyimika, the consultant surgeon told Saturday Vanguard that the hospital lacks the facility to take care of the victims.

“We are transferring them to LASUTH. When they were brought Tuesday, they came with 70-100% degree burns and that is serious. We don’t have the equipment to take care of them and so these four with 70-80% degree burns were left behind.

“There is no condition that is less treated in medical profession than burns. Once it’s over 40%, then there is a problem and all these are over fifty per cent and their chances of survival are slim.

“What happens in serious cases like this is that in the first 24 hours, victims suffer loss of fluids and electrolytes. And because the skin is peeled off, they are exposed to all kinds of infection. And now, we have cases of one person suffering first, second and third degree burns at the same time. We have been able to keep them alive till today (Wednesday). If they survive loss of fluid and infection in the first and second phases, there is probability of the body suffering rejection in the third phase. So, the chances of their survival is less than 50%.

“But we have received a call just now from LASUTH that they are sending an ambulance to come to take away these remaining victims.
At the General Hospital Ikeja, Wednesday, journalists and even relations of the victims in the emergency section of the hospital were barred from gaining entry into the ward. A female nurse who would not disclose her identity told Saturday Vanguard that the victims were in serious conditions. At the time of visit, the medical director was said to be very busy.

Besides loss of lives and serious health conditions in the hospitals, there are also those who lost their shops and property to the inferno.
Sola Oluyole said he is lucky to be alive because he hadn’t come to his shop that morning but the fire razed his shop and other properties to dust.
Kehinde Olatunji lost his Nissan Urvan bus to the inferno while Peter Ayeni and Julius Ayeni lost their 504 Peugeot and 404 Pick-Up vans. Lukman Aladi lost his shop with everything inside including planning machines, sewing machines, drilling machines and other building materials.

They told Saturday Vanguard that these shops and vehicles were their only sources of livelihood. There is a mechanic workshop here where we do repairs on the vehicles. The shops were there on their own but now everything is gone. We are lucky we are alive but then, what about our businesses, our sources of livelihood. We didn’t come here for fuel or anything. We were in our various homes when these properties got destroyed.”
The story of Abule-Egba pipeline fire is endless. The more one looks, the more one sees.

Saturday Vanguard was told by the Red Cross officials that 265 bodies that could not be identified were buried in a mass grave in Ajala Cemetery at Abule-Egba.
A relation of one of the victims, Ademola Adetayo, said it would be disastrous if Ademola perished in the inferno.

“We don’t live around here. He was here on a visit from Oshodi with two friends Tuesday morning to visit another friend. He didn’t come for fuel because at Oshodi, we didn’t know about this. So, he couldn’t have come for fuel. He came for a visit and did not return.”