Five persons, including four women, have lost their lives following an explosion in a residential area in Omoku, headquarters of Ogba/EgbemaNdoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, on Saturday.
It was gathered that the blast was said to have occurred in one of the rooms in a residential area used for storing illegally refined petroleum products.
An environmentalist and executive director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene, confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday.
Dumnamene said the occupants usually buy illegally refined kerosene and other products, store them and resell them to members of the public.
While warning against pipeline vandalism and illegal refining, he called on the Federal Government to legalise modular refineries in the Niger region to forestall such unfortunate incidents.
The statement partly reads, ‘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 inferno is said to have occurred in a house where people purchased and stored illegally refined petroleum products, including condensate, for resale in the area.
‘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’.
The environmentalist called for a thorough investigation into the incident and warned residents and youths against involvement in pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries and trading in illegally refined petroleum products, including home storage, to avoid ugly incidents.
‘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’, the statement added.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident and casualties, saying the investigation is ongoing.
She said that the blast occurred while a resident was using a cooking stove to make noodles, adding that one of the victims was a woman who came to purchase the product.
Iringe-Koko stated, ‘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’.
