Three killed as truck plunges into Epe River

pipeline Vandals

Three men were Saturday confirmed dead after a tipper plunged into the Epe River in Lagos.

The tipper said to be laden with sand, fell off the Berger Bridge into the River late Friday drowning unspecified number of occupants.

It was gathered that officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), police and local divers struggled all Friday night to locate the six-tyre truck without success and had to suspend the operation which continued on Saturday morning.

The Nation gatherer that the truck was eventually recovered on Saturday afternoon and all three men who were inside found dead.

At the time of this report, emergency workers were still conducting search and rescue to be sure no one else was still inside the water.

In another development, residents of Ikotun at the wee hours of Friday waged war against suspected vandals who invaded their neighbourhood to steal Premium Motor Spirit from a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) System 2B pipeline.

The vandals who stormed Omoboriowo Street in Ikotun along the Igando-Ikotun Road did not expect to meet resistance from the locals who were awoken by the offensive smell of PMS.

pipeline Vandals Ikotun

Sources who hinted on the development said the residents immediately contacted the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Monitoring Unit as well as the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) before mobilising themselves to go after the vandals.

It was gathered that the criminals who already connected MACK truck with registration number FKJ14XX to the vandalised point on the pipeline, abandoned the tanker, their hoses and other items for fear of being lynched.

“People were sleeping when they suddenly started perceiving offensive fuel odour. They suspected vandals have come to the area and woke each other up. They called our men in the area and then mobilised themselves and went after the vandals.

pipeline Vandals Ikotun

“The vandals fled the scene for fear of being mobbed and in the process abandoned the truck, their hoses and other items. Our people called NNPC and fire service because fuel was already leaking everywhere,” said a security operative who pleaded anonymity.

Confirming the vandalism, LASEMA in a statement said the entire area was enveloped with the stench of PMS and at risk of explosion.

“The vandalised pipeline was successfully repaired by the NNPC Maintenance Team from Sagamu on Friday afternoon. It did not result in an explosion. There was neither injury nor death at the incident scene.”