Explosion, fire near illegal oil refinery in Nigeria kills at least 12 people

An explosion and fire near an illegal oil refinery site in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region killed at least 12 people on Friday, police said, although local residents put the death toll much higher.

State police spokeswoman Grace Eringe-Koko said the explosion in Emuha council area of ​​Southern Rivers state occurred near a pipeline targeted by illegal refinery operators trying to steal oil.

“We know there was an explosion related to bunkering activities,” he said, adding that authorities were working to ascertain the number of casualties and the cause of the incident.

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Residents in the area told The Associated Press that the blaze that raged for hours could have killed dozens and that most of the victims were young men, who tried to extract oil from the pipeline and take it to an illegal refinery site in at least five vehicles. Plan was made.

Fynneface Dumnamen, executive director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Center, said a spark from the exhaust pipe of the bus laden with gallons of crude ignited the blaze as the driver attempted to depart.

An explosion at an illegal oil refinery in Nigeria has killed at least 12 people, but residents claim the death toll is much higher. (Fox News)

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“There were people in about five vehicles all burned,” Dumanman told the AP.

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 country’s oil facilities are located.

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Employees at such facilities rarely follow safety standards, leading to frequent fires, including one last year in Imo State that killed more than 100 people.

Nigeria to lose at least $3 billion worth of crude oil to piracy between January 2021 and February 2022. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said questionable business operators often evade regulators by setting up refineries in remote areas such as Imo. Year.