Pipeline vandalism: NNPC records over 5,000 cases in 2010

Vanguard

22 November 2011

Pipeline vandalism: NNPC records over 5,000 cases in 2010

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has said that over 5000 cases of willful act of pipeline vandalism were recorded at the end of 2010 nationwide.

The Managing Director of Pipeline Product and Marketing Company, PPMC, marketing and distribution arm of the NNPC, Prince Haruna Momoh, said the high rate of vandalism obstructed the supply and distribution of petroleum products both crude and refined during the period in review.

Momoh, who spoke with journalists on the sidelines of a gas conference in Lagos, noted that that the situation is reaching an alarming level, as since the late 1990’s the NNPC witnessed between 450 and 1,000 cases of vandalism annually.

Broken down, he said that within the last 10 years, NNPC has spend over N174.57 billion for pipelines repairs of a total of 16,083 pipeline breaks. While the majority of about 15,685 representing 97.5 percent of the total were from acts of vandalism, the balance of about 398 cases or 2.4 per cent were due to ruptures.