Five People Die in a Deadly River Explosion Caused by Illegally Refined Kerosene

Five people were killed in a catastrophic explosion in Omoku, Rivers, where illegally processed petroleum products left the victims completely burned.

According to reports, a petroleum explosion in Omoku, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Rivers State, on Saturday claimed the lives of five people.

According to information received, the incident, which occurred at approximately 11 a.m., left four male and female victims completely burned.

SP Grace Iringe-Koko, a State Police Command spokesperson who verified the occurrence, stated that the illegally refined kerosene on a cooking stove was the reason.

“I can confirm the incident and that bad kerosene in a cooking stove was the cause,” she claimed.

According to a report that reached me from our Omoku Station, the house caught fire as the residents were attempting to prepare indomie (noodles) using kerosene in a stove. The house was destroyed, and the individuals inside were killed.

According to the police spokeswoman, an investigation has begun to determine what caused the fire.

Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), a civil society organization that had previously dispatched monitors to the scene, revealed that illegally processed petroleum products were the source of the explosion.

“The incident occurred in a house where people purchased and stored illegally refined petroleum products, including condensate, for resale in the area,” stated Dumnamene Fyneface, the group’s executive director.

“The incident occurred on April 26 at about 11am, killing five persons, four of whom were female, and one of whom was burned beyond recognition,” he explained.

In order to prevent unsightly instances of this kind, the Advocacy Center calls for an investigation into the incident and cautions locals and young people against engaging in pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and trafficking in illegally refined petroleum products, including home storage.

In order to lessen such occurrences, the group also reaffirmed its demand that the federal government “legalize 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.”