The Senate has set up a committee to unravel the immediate causes of the pipeline fire in KomKom Oyigbo local government area of Rivers which killed over 50 persons.
The committee is headed by Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto APC).
At the plenary on Wednesday, the Senate also urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and other agencies in the oil and gas sector to improve the security of oil installations nationwide.
The Senate also directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to visit the scene and provide succour to the victims.
The resolution of the upper chamber followed a motion titled “Pipeline explosion in Komkom Town of Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State” sponsored by George Sekibo (Rivers East) and three others.
Leading debate on the motion, the lawmaker added that properties worth millions of naira were consumed by the fire.
He said majority of the pipelines were laid over 50 years ago, adding that with time and usage, they might have been weak in some sections.
According to him: “this and other factors could be attributed to the incessant pipeline explosions in the Niger Delta region and other areas which have been a major source of death.
“Such explosions have always brought irreparable devastating consequences on the people and the affected areas. As it is often, such blasts usually change the environment and the livelihood of the people in the area.”
He said that oil which seems to be a blessing to the entire nation was becoming a curse to the host communities where both the production and distribution take place.
He also flayed the Federal Government for not doing enough to reduce the occurrences of these sad scenarios despite the huge foreign exchange oil fetches Nigeria.
