Five people, including four women, have died following an explosion at a residential area in Omoku, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, on Saturday.
Sources revealed that the explosion occurred in one of the rooms used to store illegally refined petroleum products.
Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene, an environmentalist and Executive Director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday. He explained that residents often purchased illegally refined kerosene and other petroleum products, storing them for resale to the public.
In the statement, Dumnamene said, “The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) has received and confirmed reports of an explosion and fire incident at a storage of illegally refined petroleum products in Omoku, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) of Rivers State.
The explosion is said to have occurred in a house where people purchased and stored illegally refined petroleum products, including condensate, for resale in the area.”
He further stated that volunteers from the One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta provided details about the tragedy.
According to him, “Members of the Advocacy Centre youth volunteers network under the auspices of the One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta in ONELGA told the Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, that the incident occurred in the late hours of Saturday, April 26 by about 11AM, killing five persons, four females and one male burnt beyond recognition.”
Dumnamene urged a thorough investigation into the incident and warned residents and youths to avoid involvement in pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refining, and trading in illegally refined products.
He added, “We also used the opportunity to renew our call on the federal government to legalise artisanal refineries in the Niger Delta through the establishment of its July 27, 2020, proposed Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) and/or modular refineries for artisanal refiners in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region to mitigate incidents of this nature.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident and the resulting casualties, noting that investigations are ongoing.
Providing further details, Iringe-Koko said the explosion was triggered when a resident used a cooking stove to prepare noodles near the stored petroleum products. She explained,
“What really caused the fire was that a resident brought a cooking stove to the place and was preparing noodles, which ignited the fire.
She and three other women were burnt beyond recognition, and sadly, they lost their lives, including one of them who came to buy condensate (illegally refined kerosene). Investigation is ongoing.”
