IMO Pipeline Explosion: Police Step up Action, Probe Incident
The Imo State Police Command has set up an investigation team following Wednesday’s pipeline explosion which killed five persons at the Obitti community in the Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of the state.
The command spokesperson, Henry Okoye, disclosed that the state Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, had launched a probe into the incident which claimed the lives of five vandals in the community.
He said the essence of the probe was to arrest the situation and stop further economic sabotage of the state.
According to PUNCH Metro, some vandals had gone to a rubber estate in the Obitti community and attempted to tamper with crude oil by digging through a pipeline in the community.
In an attempt to steal the crude oil, the pipeline caught fire and killed five persons.
Our correspondent saw video footage circulating on social media showing the charred remains of some burnt victims.
The clip which also shows an articulated vehicle the vandals came being by fire, has a voice explaining the cause of the explosion at the rubber estate.
Our correspondent recalls that oil theft and pipeline explosions had happened previously in the LGA.
In 2022, an explosion occurred at an illegal refinery in the Obokofia, Egbema, killing no fewer than 100 people.
PUNCH