Fire disasters associated with the impairment of petroleum product facilities have more or less become a recurring decimal in Kom-Kom Community, in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State. While some were accidental, lot more were self-inflicted and patently avoidable. The incident that occurred in the same area on June 22, 2019 reportedly culminated in the loss of several lives.
Over forty persons were feared dead in the incident and scores of lock-up shops among other notable properties ravaged in the conflagration. The fire, which started in the wee hours of that fateful day and raged for more than a week, reportedly followed the trail of spilled Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol in drainage channels, wreaking havoc in about five streets in the neighbourhood.
The catastrophe would have been avoidable if the alleged vandals had not tampered with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) product pipelines and the inferno and the accompanying damage to lives and properties would not have occurred. It is quite unfortunate that this has always been happening in Kom-Kom and many are asking what exactly the problem is. Is there any collusion between the security operatives assigned to secure the pipelines and the vandals? Why is it that the criminals are not apprehended before damage is done on the facilities as it takes long hours to impair the pipelines in order to steal PMS? And why is it that no one seems to have learnt any lesson from the always fatal precedents?
The usual narratives had been that some persons died in the process of breaking pipelines or scooping the product. They abandoned the facilities, leaving the valves open while escaping from security agents.
Often times, disaster occurs when innocent but unscrupulous persons go to scoop petroleum products from the pipelines.
The same scenario is usually replicated whenever a petroleum tanker is involved in an accident spilling its contents; it is common to see ordinary Nigerians scooping inflammable products from the scenes of such incidents, even though they have seen or heard about the tragedy that struck elsewhere in similar situations. Such is the precipitate steps that many Nigerians take to tide over the hardship and misery in the land and in the process they practically throw caution to the wind and put their lives at needless risk.
Of course, government may have fallen short in the delivery of good governance that is capable of alleviating the suffering of the people, but that cannot be sufficient justification for engaging in criminal actions that lead to suicide. And in the real sense of it, pipeline vandals could hardly be described as poor because the fairly huge cost of the technology and equipment they deploy in breaking pipelines and evacuating their loot are such that the poor cannot readily afford. It is the under-dogs who steal the left-overs of the vandals. And, even at that, no reasonable person, no matter how deprived, should gravely endanger his or her life in the course of trying to eke out a living. After all, only the living can enjoy any improvement in their economic situation.
Also, because of the inflammable nature of the products the vandals spill into the environment while engaging in larceny, innocent people who did not in any way partake in the heinous activities but are in proximate area of the scene of the crime often lose their lives and property to fire. This is most unfortunate and should not be allowed to continue.
Beyond the panic they generate in the people living in the neighborhood, the regular fires cause environmental, economic and human losses that should not be tolerated in any civilized clime. It has, therefore, become imperative that residents of Kom-Kom Community be safety-conscious because even though the incident under reference affected some streets in the area, such explosions can actually wipe out the entire community.
For instance, on October 18, 1998, there was a vandalism- induced fire outbreak in Jesse, near Mosorga, in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State.
The entire community was almost wiped out as over a thousand lives were lost, many of whom were innocent citizens. It is rather amazing that some, who had witnessed, read or heard about this monumental tragedy and scores of others thereafter are still engaging in the nefarious activity of pipeline vandalism, while others seem to tolerate the vandals by pretending not to notice their activities.
Those vandals are not spirits; they live among the people and must have insiders who give them information on when to strike and when not to.
It is pertinent to point out and to remind the Kom-Kom Community that it is their obligation to protect government facilities sited within its domain. This, it should carry out by cooperating with the security agents charged with the securing of the facilities by availing them with the useful information that can assist to ambush and arrest criminals before they strike with a view to curbing the menace in society’s interest.
There is the need for the security apparatus of government to stand up and fight the criminals to a stand-still to avoid future occurrences of vandalism-related fire incidents. The alleged inter-agency rivalry which reportedly reared its ugly head at the scene of the crime must not be allowed to vitiate the official handling of this grievous incident.
This is one fire incident that must be thoroughly investigated and the culprits brought to book to serve as a deterrent to all those plotting to do same in the future.

Bethel Toby