About 15 people believed to be pipeline vandals have lost their lives, while several people sustained injuries while scooping petrol from a petroleum pipeline at Umueke village in Umueze community in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State.
The state deputy governor, Emeka Ananaba, while inspecting the area, described the incident and activities of pipeline vandals as costly and risky, advising the people of the state to desist from such acts for their own safety.
According to Ananaba, time had come for people from the state to look forward to business ventures that would make them useful to themselves and the society at large, adding that the period when people depended on broken oil pipeline for their resources was over.
He noted that the activities of oil pipeline vandals had become a source of worry to thestate government and urged them to desist from the act before the law caught up on them.
Similarly, the state Commissioner for Petroleum and Solid Minerals, Don Ubani, has warned the youth of the areas where petrol piplelines passed through to avoid going close to them to avoid such accidents.
He also warned that, henceforth, any traditional ruler in whose community the pipes were vandalised might be punished if he failed to identify such persons. Tribunenigeria