Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC-Nigeria, has called for a thorough investigation into the recent petrol fire incident which killed some persons including fishermen in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Recall that scores of persons reportedly died a fortnight ago from a petrol fire explosion, an incident which has been marred by conflicting reports from locals in the area.
While some claimed the explosion occured when people were scooping petroleum products spilled by NNPCL at NAFCON creek in Okrika, others alleged that the explosion was caused by illegal oil bunkerers in the area.
Reacting on the development, YEAC-Nigeria alleged that the issues that led to the fire explosion began from negligence from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, NNPCL while pumping imported PMS from a vessel to the Port Harcourt refinery.
Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Mr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said preliminary investigations by the group revealed that apart from human lives lost, the spillages from NNPCL have affected the aquatic lives in Okrika.
Fyneface recalled that a similar fire explosion occurred at the NNPC jetty in Okrika in May 2014, leaving over seven persons dead, and warned that the recent incident should not be swept under the carpet.
He said, “YEAC-Nigeria’s team can confirm that a vessel conveying imported premium motor spirit at Okari jetty was discharging the product to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd’s storage tanks at the Port Harcourt Refinery through the surface pipelines visible to anyone entering Okrika local government area.
“The high pumping pressure from the vessel pulled out the valve on the pipe’s mouth due to improper connection by the dock workers, leading to the spilling of thousands of liters of PMS into the environment, lasting for many hours before they realized and stopped the pumping from the vessel.
“Before it was stopped, the PMS had spread everywhere around the area on the water and even up to NAFCON Creek near Onne in Eleme local government area which shares boundary with Okrika.
“News of the PMS in the environment quickly spread among the local people and the scooping of the product into containers started. Some scooped, sold and returned to scoop again while those who didn’t immediately find buyers stored the product at home and at nearby burial ground.
“By the night of July 31st breaking August 1st, PMS on the water surface then caught fire, from the lanterns of two fishermen who were going about their lawful fishing activities on the river, causing the explosion and killing both of them as the first set of casualties.
“While the actual total casualty figures are unknown, unverified reports has it that 16 persons including the fishermen and two others choked by PMS under the pipeline also died.
“The explosion, heat and the toxic PMS also killed many fishes in the big river body, as fishes began floating. As poisonous as these fishes could be, some community people who could not resist the sizes of some of the dead fishes went on to pick the dead fishes, cooked and eat them.
“The picking and eating of the dead fishes is another episode of possible diseases and epidemic waiting to happen in Okrika, and its environs from those who eat the unsafe fishes, if steps are not taken to address the health implications.
“It is against these backgrounds that Advocacy Centre calls for thorough investigation into the cause of the July 31 incident, explosion and deaths in Okrika and adequate compensation paid to the families of the affected fishermen who were going about their lawful livelihood activities but killed from the negligence of the dock workers, vessel owners and NNPCL spills leading to the explosion.”
