©2022 DopeReporters. All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by multiplatforms
Electricity supply to the Aba Ringfence covering nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State declined by 40% at the weekend following an attack on the oil pipelines that support the delivery of gas to the 188 megawatt Geometric Power Plant resumed fully this afternoon.
This is a result of the emergency repair of the damaged portion of the pipeline, according to the Aba Power Managing Director, Ugo Opiegbe, who spoke to newsmen on the phone this evening.
“Heirs Energies, the operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPL) –Heirs Energies Joint Venture on the Oil Mining Licence (OML) 17, worked extremely hard to restore gas supplies”, Opiegbe stated.
The Aba Power MD, however, disclosed that there would be a decline in power supply tomorrow for 10 hours because of a scheduled reduction in gas pressure to enable emergency repairs to an oil pipeline.
Engr Vincent Ogbonna Chukwueke, a gas consultant in Lagos who used to be a senior manager with The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), explained that the gas reduction owes to the discovery of an “illegal connection on the operated TransNiger Gas Pipeline (TNP) that stretches from Egbema in Imo State through Rivers states and terminates at Bonny Terminal”.He further clarified that when the oil pipelines are put out of operation due to such interference, liquids that come out during gas processing and are normally evacuated through the oil pipeline get stranded, leading to the shutdown of the gas facilities.
It is common for thieves searching for crude oil and petroleum products to break pipelines in oil-bearing areas because crude oil and gas pipelines are laid side by side, making it difficult for the vandals to differentiate them.
Engr Chukwueke expressed optimism that the scheduled reduction in power supply to parts of the Aba Ringfence tomorrow may not last up to 10 hours because of the insistence by the Geometric Power Group that all the parties involved “in the repairs do everything humanly possible to provide the Aba people with electricity, after four days of reduced electricity supply which made customers unhappy, having enjoyed 31 days of uninterrupted power supply”.
The Aba people were celebrating one month of uninterrupted electricity when a sudden drastic decline in gas pressure was announced, forcing the Geometric Power Plant to shut down its General Electric (GE)
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, has decried the leaking well-head belonging to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, at Bukuma in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State.
In a statement on Sunday by the Director General of NOSDRA, Chukwuemeka Woke, during a facility tour to evaluate the extent of the leakage, the agency called for immediate repair of the leaking well-head to forestall further disasters.
It could be recalled that a spill which was reported on January 1, 2025, involved a gas leak from the OML Well 8, operated by NNPCL.
Local security sources told newsmen that the spill was likely instigated by the actions of suspected pipeline vandals who attempted to illegally tap into the well-head.
Residents of Bukuma had raised an alarm over the gas leak, and the resultant inferno that had affected their environment.
The DG, during his visit, noted that the agency was working with relevant stakeholders and the operator to extinguish the fire caused by the leakage and mitigate its effects on the community, disclosing plans to provide relief materials to the community.
He therefore called for the implementation of continuous surveillance of operational areas by the NNPCL to prevent future occurrence.
He said, “On January 12, NOSDRA received reports of a fire outbreak at the well-head, which was attributed to excessive gas release.
“We are actively coordinating with relevant stakeholders and the operator to extinguish the fire and mitigate its effects on the community.”
Woke said that NOSDRA would thoroughly analyse the data collected during the tour and collaborate with stakeholders to bring the situation under control.
He reiterated the commitment of the agency towards ensuring that the welfare of the affected communities was promoted.
The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has inspected the ongoing repair works at the failed sections of the Owerri-Port Harcourt Road between Umuapu and Umuagwo in Imo State.
Ogbuku stated that the road’s deplorable state necessitated the emergency measures the NDDC took to restore it and make it motorable immediately.
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer, accompanied by some Commission officials, was given an on-site briefing by the engineers of the construction firm handling the emergency rehabilitation.
Ogbuku expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for giving the directive for the urgent restoration of the failed sections of strategic roads in the Niger Delta region.
The NDDC boss said: “Following a presidential directive to intervene urgently to restore the dilapidated sections of regional roads, the NDDC has quickly mobilised construction companies to carry out remedial works to ensure that the people do not suffer unnecessary pains while travelling.
The NDDC Managing Director commended the Federal Government for promptly responding to people’s outcries to rehabilitate bad roads in the Niger Delta region. He expressed confidence that the restoration work at the Owerri Port Harcourt Road would stand the test of time when completed.
According to Ogbuku: “As an interventionist agency, we will continue to complement the efforts of both the Federal and State Governments by taking measures to ease the stress commuters face daily.”
Ogbuku said he was satisfied with the quality of the job and commended the contractor for being ready to see it completed.
He enjoined members of the various communities and commuters to show understanding during construction, as the Commission was prepared to complete the project as quickly as possible.
One of the commercial bus drivers using the road, Mr. Kinsley Okorigwe, thanked the NDDC for responding on time to the distress calls of commuters bearing the pains of the damaged road.
NEW YORK — New York City on Monday issued its first drought warning in 22 years and paused major repairs to its main water aqueduct out of concern for the lack of rainfall.
Dry conditions across the Northeast have been blamed for hundreds of brush fires. They had already prompted New York City and state officials to implement water-conservation protocols when Mayor Eric Adams upgraded the drought warning and temporarily halted the $2 billion Delaware Aqueduct project, which was intended to repair leaks in the 80-year-old tunnel.
Last week, a park on the northern tip of Manhattan caught fire, sending smoke billowing across the city — less than a week after a brush fire in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
The city may elevate the warning to an emergency if dry conditions persist, Adams said. A drought emergency involves requiring residents and city agencies to cut down on water usage. Upgrading from a watch to a warning requires a range of conservation protocols, Adams said.
Water-saving measures planned for the coming weeks will include washing buses and subway cars less frequently and limiting water use for fountains and golf courses, Adams said.
“Our city vehicles may look a bit dirtier, and our subways may look a bit dustier, but it’s what we have to do to delay or stave off a more serious drought emergency,” he said.
The shut-off of a stretch of the Delaware Aqueduct to address leaks had been in the works for years.
The aqueduct carries water for 85 miles (137 kilometers) from four reservoirs in the Catskill region to other reservoirs in the city’s northern suburbs.
A portion of the aqueduct was shut off in early October but will now be turned back on because water levels across the city’s reservoir system are too low to make up the difference, officials with the city Department of Environmental Protection said.
A landlord and his tenant in the Modugari area of Maiduguri in Boron State on Saturday had a verbal face-off over whose responsibility it is to reconstruct the parts of the apartment that were damaged by the recent flooding which ravaged the state capital and environs.
PUNCH Online reported that the recent flooding which is currently receding, displaced millions of residents and destroyed houses and properties worth millions of Naira.
During the argument which led to verbal abuse the Landlord of the apartment, Moses Tegwolo, told our correspondent that the flood was a natural disaster while noting that tenants can not pin the damage on the landlord.
“I was affected by the flood, I am even yet to repair my side. Am I the cause of the damage?, how will he be telling me that if he repairs it, he will remove the money when next he wants to pay rentage”, the Landlord said.
He continued, “If he can’t stay, he is free to leave. Besides, I told him, let me bring a bricklayer, let them do the estimate. At most, we will just share the loss on a certain percentage. He is insisting.”
Explaining his side of the story, the tenant, Ahmed Isah, said when he rented the apartment, it was not in good shape and had spent a lot of money trying to put it together.
“When I came here a few months ago, I painted this room, fixed some broken parts on the floor, and even the window when it broke. Nothing was taken out of my rent, and now the flood has destroyed the cemented floor, walls and the house doors. I should still fix everything.
“Since he has said that he will agree to let us share the loss by percentage, no problem, they should come for the estimate. I just hope the percentage division will favour me because things are difficult now.”
PUNCH Online, however, gathered that after occupants from neighbouring apartments intervened, both parties (Landlord and tenant) later agreed on a percentage division of the total amount spent on the repairs.