Fire has damaged a section of the $20bn Dangote refinery outside Lagos barely six months after it began operations.
Videos trending in Nigeria showed a thick smoke billowing from the refinery which is located within the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
The fire was, however, without casualties, said Anthony Chiejina, a spokesman for the Dangote Group.
“We have swiftly contained a minor fire incident at our effluent plant today 26th Wednesday of June. There is no cause for alarm as the refinery is operating and there is no recorded injury or body harm to all our staff on duty,” he said.
The development comes just days after the firm accused International Oil Companies (IOCs) of sabotaging the refinery, accusing them of selling crude oil above the market price or failing to supply the refinery with crude. The firm said this forced the refinery to purchase its crude from the United States.
A Dangote executive had also accused the downstream and midstream regulator of sabotage and failing to stop the import of dirty fuel into the country, an allegation the regulator denied.
The refinery, which has a capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude per day, is expected to supply the entire West African sub-region. Dangote had recently accused oil mafias of plotting to frustrate the region from being self sufficient in energy.
Dangote’s entrance into the petrol selling business certainly adds competitive pressure into a market currently dominated by several large commodity traders. There is no evidence of sabotage to the refinery, and as of now as the cause of the fire remains unknown.
(PUNCH)
