The Ogba/Egebema/Ndoni Local Government Area in Rivers State is grappling with the aftermath of an explosion at an illicit oil tapping point in Omoku, where the death toll has tragically risen to at least 20 persons.
The incident, said to have occurred on a Sunday morning, involved local youths reportedly breaking a pipeline belonging to a multinational oil firm operating in the area, leading to a calamity as people turned to using jerry cans and buckets to retrieve fuel.
An eyewitness revealed that there is a grim fear of 20 casualties, accompanied by several individuals sustaining diverse burn injuries and seeking medical attention at different hospitals in the area.
‘It is a very terrible incident. Imagine the death of 20 people in such a time. We learned some youths bust a company pipeline.’
‘If you go to the General Hospital and other private clinics in Omoku, you will see many of the injured people scattered all over the place in both government and private hospitals taking treatment,’ the source added.
A source who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said the inferno occurred as a result of attempts by suspected oil thieves to light mosquito coils.
He stated, ‘The leakage was from an obsolete pipeline belonging to one of the oil companies operating in the area.’
Speaking, the chairman of Niger Delta Youth Movement, ONELGA chapter, Emeka Ukwuosah, advised youths in the area to engage in meaningful activities and shun oil bunkering.
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Ukwuosah stated, ‘Let me join in condemning the oil bunkering going on within ONELGa. And we are also calling on the security agencies to be up and doing and checkmate what is happening within that circle.’
‘Secondly, we are also calling on the multinationals that own the oil facilities to overhaul their ageing facilities to forestall such incidents.’
Providing insight, Emeka Agbabere, Assistant Secretary of the Onelga Security Peace Advisory Council, a local vigilante group, asserted that the incident could be traced back to the illicit practice of oil bunkering.
Agbabere disclosed that, following the directives of a local monarch, the vigilante group, Community Development Committee, and youth members were tasked with bringing an end to the illicit oil bunkering activities in the area.
However, he voiced dismay at the lack of success, emphasizing that despite continuous campaigns encouraging youths to refrain from illegal bunkering, the anticipated impact has not been realized.
He stated, ‘We proclaimed that they must put a stop to it and this is the aftermath of it. When they busted the pipeline, fire engulfed immediately and 19 of them died instantly and about 12 in two different hospitals.’
Upon contact, Grace Iringe-Koko, the spokesperson for the state police command, conveyed that the incident had not been reported, promising to conduct an inquiry and furnish our reporter with the relevant information.
As of the filing of this report on Tuesday afternoon, Superintendent of Police Grace Iringe-Koko had not provided the requested information.