Gas Leak Caused Lagos Explosion – NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has said that the explosion which rocked the Abule Ado Area of Lagos State in the early hours of Sunday was as a result of a gas leak.

The incident occurred after a truck hit some gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant located near the corporation’s System 2B Pipeline Right of Way, it said.

A press release by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, explained that the corporation’s preliminary findings indicated that the impact of the explosion was so huge that it led to the collapse of nearby houses and damage to the NNPC pipeline on which efforts are being made to curtail the resultant fire.

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Abba Kyari and other top Management of the corporation are in Lagos for an on-the-spot assessment of the incident.

He said in a tweet after visiting the scene of the accident that “NNPC pipeline right of way (ROW) encroachment by gas handling vendors and construction of houses enabled the explosion and aggravated the impact. Working with LASG and security agencies to clear the ROW.”

NNPC spokesman, Obateru, stated that following the report of the explosion, the corporation quickly halted ongoing pumping operations on the Atlas Cove-Mosimi pipeline which was active at the time