Barely a year after hundreds died in a part of Rivers State from crude oil explosion, another such disaster has occurred in another part of the state Friday morning, March 3, 2023, reports are saying.
The explosion occurred at a crude oil tapping point, killing a yet to be known number of people, according to Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria).
According to YEAC the explosion happened around 2am, Friday morning, when one of the buses loaded with crude oil headed for an artisanal refineries tried to start the vehicle, YEAC-Nigeria’s Crude Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS) revealed.
The explosion and fire that followed left dozens including women dead burnt beyond recognition with many other vehicles and tricycles burnt to ashes at the tapping point.
Read also: 2023 poll: Group to occupy Benin in protest over alleged presidential election rigging
The tapping point is said to be on the Trans Niger Delta Pipeline (TNP) that passed through the community.
The Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, who confirmed the incident, said had been campaigning against crude oil theft, environmental pollution and leading the advocacy for the provision of alternative livelihood opportunities for artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta for the past 12 years through the promotion of Modular Refineries promised by the Federal Government.
The report further said all those who were at the exact tapping point in the “pit” got killed while some of those who had loaded the crude and waiting to load including women have been killed by the explosion.
No government agency has confirmed the incident but many of them have raced to the scene.
