By Emma Arubi
SAPELE—LARGE quantity of bitumen from Asca Bitumen Company’s pipelines Tuesday night, spilled into the sprawling residence of Nigeria’s first Finance Minister, late Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh in Ogorode, Sapele, Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State.

The spill was from a leakage in one of the pipelines joints.

The spill, which was discovered by the wife of a tenant in the com-pound, killed chickens, rats and lizards that got stuck in it.

The company accoun-tant, who visited the scene to assess the damage, declined comment, saying he had no authority to comment on the incident. Some of the company’s pipelines and loading bay are behind late Okotie-Eboh’s home.

The children of the late minister had dragged the company to court over the location of the bitumen plant.

General Manager of the company, Mr. Karten Asher, described the incident as unfortunate because, according to him, the company had lost millions of naira worth of bitumen to acts of vandalism.

He said the pipeline was opened by vandals who thought the installation was carrying petroleum products they could siphon. He described the action as an act of sabotage aimed at discrediting the company’s good name.

Asher, who fielded questions from newsmen, said it was the second time its installation was tampered with in recent times, adding that 12 bolts were removed from the joint before the product spilled out.

However, he could not ascertain how much quantity of bitumen was lost. He also denied knowledge of the death of animals or fowls belonging to late Okotie-Eboh’s family as a result of the spill, and sued for the protection of its installations.