The explosion in the Emuoha council area of the southern Rivers state occurred along a pipeline targeted by illegal refinery operators who were trying to steal oil, AP quoted state police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko as saying.
“Preliminary investigation by the Police Command indicates that the victims were scooping crude products when the site caught fire,” Iringe-Koko said.
Five vehicles, four auto-rickshaws and a motorcycle “were all burned to ashes,” she said, adding that authorities were working to determine how many people died.
People in the area said that dozens may have died in the fire that raged for hours and that the victims were mostly young people who planned to siphon oil from a pipeline and transport to an illegal refinery site in at least five vehicles.
Fyneface Dumnamene, executive director of Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, said a spark from the exhaust pipe of a bus loaded with gallons of crude oil ignited the explosion as the driver attempted to depart.
Residents rushed in to try to rescue some of those at the scene, but the explosion was “a massive one which shook our buildings,” said Issac Amaechi, who lives in the area.
Illegal refineries are a lucrative business in Nigeria, one of Africa’s top oil producers. They are more rampant in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, where most of the nation’s oil facilities are located.
The workers at such facilities rarely adhere to safety standards, leading to frequent fires, including one in Imo state last year in which more than 100 people were killed.
MNA/PR