NNPCL, Lagos fire service disagree on source of tank firm inferno

By Labake IDOWU

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said the fire which gutted its tank farm was not from the company’s depot but from Honeywell Oil and Gas (HOGL).

The Lagos Fire Service had earlier reported that a tank farm which belonged to the NNPCL caught fire in Apapa, Lagos State.

A video of the fire incident surfaced on the social on Friday morning.

The Lagos State Fire Service on Friday confirmed that there was a fire incident at a depot in Apapa.

The Director of Public Affairs of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Amodu Shakiru, disclosed this to our correspondent in a telephone conversation.

Shakiru said, “Yes, we just received a call from that area and the call came in at 11:27 am”.

Shakiru disclosed that firefighters were already at the scene to rescue the situation.

He said, “The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service is attending to a fire outbreak at the new NNPC Terminal, formerly OVH, Kayode Street, Marine Beach, Apapa.

“The fire resulted from a spillage of petroleum products within the perimeter of the tank farm”.

Also, the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Fire Service, Margaret Adeseye, said concerted efforts with various emergency responders within the oil and gas industry were being made to contain the situation.

“The public is hereby assured that the emergency operations are under control from escalating further,” Adeseye stated.

However, the NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said the fire was not from the company’s depot but from HOGL.

“It is not at the NNPC, but at HOGL. The fire is at a pipeline at HOGL. The fire has since been extinguished. It’s at the Honeywell depot but it has now been extinguished. Not NNPC,” Soneye said in messages sent to our correspondent.

He described the report of the Lagos State Fire Service as “false”.