- The bunker site was on the border of the Imo River and the states
- Illegal refining in the Niger Delta, fueled by poverty
- The blast followed recent repression by the governor of Rivers State
YENAGAO, Nigeria, April 24 (Reuters) – Charred bodies were left scattered among burnt palms, cars and vans on Sunday after a weekend blast killed more than 100 people at an illegal oil refinery on the Nigerian river and the states of Imo.
Flip-flops, bags, and clothing belonging to the dead littered the ground, which had turned black with oil and soot, while in some places it was still smoking, despite the night’s rain.
“There are so many people who died here. I beg the government to investigate,” Uche Woke, a commercial cyclist, told Reuters at the scene of Saturday’s blast.
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The Nigerian Red Cross was on site Sunday to assess the blast, which destroyed a section of the Abaezi Forest that crosses the border between the Ohaji Egbema area of Imo State and Rivers State.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Bukhari said in a statement that he would step up repression against illegal refineries after what he described as a “catastrophe” and a “national disaster”.
Unemployment and poverty in the oil-producing Niger Delta have made illegal refining attractive, but often deadly. Crude oil is extracted from a network of pipelines owned by large oil companies and refined in makeshift tanks.
The process has led to fatal accidents and polluted a region that has already been hit by oil spills on agricultural land, streams and lagoons.
A man stands at the site of an explosion that killed more than 100 people at an illegal crude oil bunker site in the Abaezi Forest, in the Ohaji Egbema local government district of Imo State, Nigeria, April 24, 2022. REUTERS / Tife Owolabi
The Center for Youth and Environmental Advocacy said that several vehicles that were in line to buy illegal fuel were burned.
“The fire broke out in an illegal bunkering site and affected more than 100 people,” Goodluck Opia, the state’s commissioner for oil resources, said of the incident.
The location of the border is a reaction to the recent repression in Rivers against illegal refining in an attempt to reduce deteriorating air pollution. Read more
“There have been several attacks in the last month or two, and some security agents have been involved,” said Ledum Miti, a former president of the Mosop Survival Movement.
At least 25 people, including some children, were killed in an explosion and fire at another illegal refinery in Rivers State in October. Read more
In February, local authorities said they had launched a crackdown on the refining of stolen crude oil, but with little apparent success. Read more
Government officials estimate that Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer and exporter, is losing an average of 200,000 barrels of oil a day, more than 10% of production, due to illegal intrusion or pipeline vandalism.
This has forced oil companies to regularly declare force majeure on oil and gas exports.
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Additional reports by Felix Onua in Abuja and Julia Payne in Lagos, Written by Julia Payne and MacDonald Jiroutwe, Edited by Raisa Kasolowski, Ross Russell and Alexander Smith
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