By: Barikui Felix
An explosion at an unauthorized petroleum storage facility in Rivers State has claimed the lives of five people.
It was discovered that the incident took place in a home where people
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), an environmental watch group, verified the explosion.
According to a statement released by Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, “Members of the Advocacy Center youth volunteers network under the auspices of the One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta in ONELGA reported that the incident occurred on Saturday, April 26 by approximately 11:00am, killing five persons, four females and one male, all burnt beyond recognition.”
In order to prevent similar unpleasant incidents from happening again, Fyneface cautioned locals and young people against engaging in pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refining, and trading in illegally refined petroleum products, including home storage, while urging a thorough investigation into the incident.
In order to lessen such occurrences, the group also took advantage of the occasion to restate its demand that the federal government legalize artisanal refineries in the Niger Delta by establishing its proposed Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI), also known as Modular Refineries for Artisanal Refiners in the Niger Delta region, on July 27, 2020.
