Uche Usim, Abuja

For better supply of petroleum products across the South East region and beyond, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Enugu State Government have begun moves to revamp the comatose Enugu depot whose condition has robbed the region efficient supplies. The deal also seeks to protect pipelines in the region that have been vandalised periodically.

The Group Managing Director (GMD) of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, made the disclosure when he paid a courtesy call on the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, at the Government House, Enugu, recently.

Baru, in a statement, lamented the incessant acts of vandalism on the Aba-Enugu products pipeline. saying that at some point, about 700 breaches were recorded on the pipeline, a situation that has hampered efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products not only in the state, but in the entire South-east region.

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The GMD explained that even after the Aba-Enugu pipeline was repaired, it still had to be shut down as the corporation hardly gets up to 50 per cent of the products pumped. He described Enugu depot as a major NNPC supply and distribution infrastructure in the entire South-east region which requires the support of all stakeholders.

According to the GMD, the Osisioma and Nsirimo areas (both in Abia State) as well as Ishiagwu (in Ebonyi State) were the major vandalism flashpoints along the line where illegal connections for diversion of products had been observed almost on a daily basis.

He, therefore, called on the governor to rally his counterparts in the region to work with the NNPC and security agencies to secure the strategic pipeline, which he said, would go a long way in reviving efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products in the area.

“This depot is not only strategic to the South-east, it also serves as a bridge to Makurdi depot in the North-central as well as the Yola depot in the North-east,” he noted. The GMD also charged the governor to collaborate with relevant government agencies to enforce the sale of petrol at filling stations in the state at the government-regulated price of N145.