US embassy cable - 04LAGOS2561

UNCLAS LAGOS 002561 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W 
STATE FOR EB/ESC/IEC/ENR/BLEVINE 
STATE FOR DS/IP/AF 
STATE FOR INR/AA 
STATE PASS DOE FOR DAS JBRODMAN AND CGAY 
STATE PASS TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS AND SRENANDER 
STATE PASS DOC PHUEPER 
STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION MARAD 
STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ 
STATE PASS EX-IM FOR JRICHTER 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR CDUFFY 
STATE PASS TDA FOR BTERNET 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET, EINV, NI, ENERG 
SUBJECT: NNPC PIPELINE FIRE 
 
REF: Lagos 1940 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (U)  Press reports indicate a Nigerian National 
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline was vandalized, with 
the resulting spill set ablaze in the Lagos exburb of Ilado 
on December 20.  The pipeline fire was reportedly 
extinguished late December 22, although NNPC was not willing 
to confirm this.  Consulate personnel confirmed the presence 
of smoke and a large fire in that general area.  Fatalities 
are likely, and there are unconfirmed reports that toll may 
reach 200.  The NNPC pipeline carried fuel from the Atlas 
Cove Jetty to NNPC fuel depots in Ejigbo, Lagos and Mosimi 
in Ogun State. 
 
2.  (U)  The press reports that NNPC security and the police 
were attempting to arrest the bunkerers, when the bunkerers 
ignited the fire in retaliation.  The blaze quickly spread 
in the nearby area.  This was the second major fire in the 
Ilado area in the last three months; the previous fire 
killed around fifty.  Ilado now has a reputation as a "haven 
for illegal bunkering." 
 
BROWNE#