A cross section of Nigerians have blamed the Lagos government over the explosion of a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline at Ile Epo axis (near Abule Egba), Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Sunday said that two bodies had been recovered from the explosion site.
The raging fire caused panic among the residents of Abule Egba, Ile Epo and Ekoro Road due to the thick smoke which oozed out from the explosion scene.
Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, Acting Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office, NEMA, Farinloye said that several buildings and articulated vehicles were engulfed in the inferno which happened on Sunday night.
He, however, said the cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained, adding that emergency responders immediately swung into action after receiving distress calls from some residents of the area.
However, some Nigerians took to their social media pages in disagreement over who to blame for the explosion.
While some blamed the government, others chided Nigerians who vandalize pipelines endangering the lives of others.
Here are some comments gathered by DAILY POST from Twitter;
@Nielo_2wit “Abule Egba is currently on fire because some lazy greedy fools decided to go bust pipeline for personal benefits. We’re our own problem in this country.”
@SavvyRinu “You are putting blame on the government! Is it Buhari/Sanwo-Olu that asked idiots to go vandalize the Pipeline causing the inferno in Abule Egba?The change begins from us! Some unscrupulous people will wake and just decide to endanger the lives/businesses of many for selfish gains.”
@Blacqcoal “This has been happening there for long yet the government haven’t done anything about it. Lives and properties wasted.”
@Marvin_gmartins “I’ve stayed at Abule Egba, do you know how many times the government have sent military men to come seal off shops and houses on the pipeline? As soon as they leave these guys erects even a bigger structure. This is on us not government.”
@LutherAmadi “Are you listening to urself ? So why do we have government if they cannot enforce the law? So we are our own government now, abi? So we should all die because people are greedy?
@Adorablegod “It is the government’s fault they never created the enabling environment for youths, no jobs, companies are leaving Nigeria people are losing jobs, the economy is bad.”
@Holluwaphemmy88 “There is no justification for what the people did. Regardless of whether the government provides jobs or not nothing should make u endanger your life and other innocent souls.So has thr loss of lives and properties provided the jobs now?
@Fayvhour “That doesn’t give those miscreants the right to endanger the lives of other people. What is wrong is wrong!
@Degoldenhearted “We blame the government for almost everything but we find it difficult to manage those little things the government put in place for us to make our lives better.”
@deejmela “In as much as the government is something else, we can’t try to steal from them and expect them to solve a problem we generated our selfs. I only feel pain for the innocent families affected by this act of illiteracy, done by the same people living around.”