Oil Pollution: Ejigbo Residents Protest Against PPMC

A legal practitioner, Mr
Simon Phillips, has threatened to take legal action against the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) over alleged neglect of ruptured petrol pipeline.
Phillips, who claimed to be the legal representative of residents of Animatu Ilo St., Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos, said that the area had suffered from oil pollution.
He told newsmen in Lagos that the residents had earlier petitioned the management of PPMC and the police over alleged oil pollution.
Phillips said that neither the management of PPMC nor the police responded to their petitions.
He said that rather the situation degenerated to “unlawful arrest of some residents on August 23 by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps”.
“We urge the management of PPMC to urgently find a lasting solution to the ruptured pipeline in our area or we will be forced to take legal action.
“NNPC and PPMC should state clearly to the public reasons for the incessant oil spillage in the area to avoid unnecessary arrest of innocent residents by the NSCDC,’’ he said.
Phillips said that most residents in the area had dug their wells since 2002, but recently discovered that water in the wells started mixing with fuel.
He said that the general manager of NNPC in Ejigbo depot had also confirmed that the depot had received report about fuel in wells.
The counsel said that the residents had been suffering from the harmful effects of the contamination.
Phillips advised the NNPC and PPMC to embark on clean up of the area.