Dr. Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says Nsirimo and Osisioma in Abia and Ishiagwu, Ebonyi State are major vandalism flash points along the Enugu-Aba pipeline for illegal connections for diverting products on a daily basis.
At the height of the challenge, he lamented in the statement by Ndu Ughamadu, the corporation’s spokesman, that the corporation recorded 700 breaches on the particular pipeline, thereby impeding efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products in the entire South East geo-political zone.
Baru, who paid a courtesy visit Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on Thursday in his office, noted that even the repair of the Aba-Enugu pipeline, it still had to be shut down because the corporation hardly gets up to 50% of the products pumped.
He therefore urged the governor to rally his colleagues in the region to partner the NNPC and the security agencies to secure the strategic pipeline, thereby helping to ensure efficient product supply and distribution in the zone.
The Enugu depot, he continued, “not only strategic to the South East, it also serves as a bridge to Makurdi depot (Benue State) in the North Central as well as the Yola depot in the North East.”
He equally sought the governor’s support for various government agencies to enforce the sale of petrol at filling states at the government regulated price of N145 per litre.
“You wouldn’t want to watch as unpatriotic marketers profiteer over your innocent citizens. We still believe marketers anywhere in this country can make profit selling at the official pump price,” Baru stressed.
Reacting, Governor Ugwuanyi promised to rally other governors in the zone to ensure that the Aba-Enugu pipeline is secured from unwholesome activities of vandals.
He assured that the Enugu State Task Force on Petroleum Products would collaborated with NNPC officials and relevant security agencies to ascertain the exact trouble spots so as to secure the pipeline.