Despite of the well-publicized dangers the number of Nigerians willing to risk their lives by tapping into the extensive state-run oil pipeline system in Nigeria continues to grow.  

Last week at least five people died and scores of others were injured when oil thieves ruptured oil pipelines in the Ekoro area of Abule-Egba in the Lagos State.  

The Nigerian National Pipeline Corporation's ( NNPC’s) Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, arrived on Monday for an on-the-spot assessment of the pipeline explosion, the Nigerian state oil corporation said on Twitter.

NNPC raised the alarm last year that oil pipeline vandalism in Nigeria was soaring, with the number of incidents of breached pipelines surging by 115 percent in July compared to June. 

“It’s unfortunate we lost 5 lives to this inferno, with many in critical condition in the hospitals, all due to unpatriotic acts of vandals along our Pipeline Right of Way, who make insertions into the pipelines to steal products, leading to disasters such as this,” Kyari said. 

Pipeline vandalism, as well as pipeline sabotages by militants in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta area, has plagued Nigeria’s oil production and exports for years. For this reason, Hot tapping and third-party-interference are important topics of the upcoming Pipeline Technology Conference (ptc) in Berlin, Germany.