No fewer than 37 suspected oil thieves have lost their lives after inhaling fumes from a petroleum product suspected to be crude oil, in a tragic incident that occurred in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The tragedy unfolded in the early hours of Thursday when a large crowd, said to number over 100 persons, converged on an illegal tapping point at a jetty in the coastal community, reportedly attempting to siphon the product into a waiting vessel and several smaller boats.
According to accounts from the community, dozens of the youths collapsed after being overwhelmed by a strong odour that spread through the area as the product was being loaded. Some of the victims are said to have plunged into the river, while others who managed to flee the scene were rushed to hospital battling severe breathing difficulties.
A community source, speaking on condition of anonymity citing security concerns, disclosed that 37 bodies had so far been identified as residents of Okrika, with six more corpses yet to be identified and an unknown number of persons still unaccounted for.
Corroborating the account, the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre for Niger Delta said its volunteer network had received reports of the fatalities. The group’s Executive Director, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene, said the victims died after inhaling what locals refer to as “Indorama fuel” at the Okari Jetty around midnight on Thursday.
He explained that the victims had tapped into a pipeline conveying petroleum products from the Indorama Eleme Petrochemical facility through the Port Harcourt Refinery, used regularly to load export vessels. Dumnamene said the high-pressure release of product during simultaneous loading by the vessel and the illegal boats appeared to have triggered the fatal exposure, with some corpses still floating in the river, unrecovered.
The advocacy group has called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency to carry out an urgent joint investigation, while also urging heightened security around pipeline infrastructure.
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It further condemned the act as sabotage, cautioning residents against tampering with oil installations, even as it appealed to authorities to explore alternative livelihoods such as modular refineries and the legalisation of artisanal refining as long-term solutions.
Reacting to the development, the Rivers State Police Command confirmed the incident through its spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police Blessing Agabe, who said the victims died in the course of an alleged crude oil theft attempt. She noted that although no formal complaint had been filed with the command, investigations have already begun to establish the full circumstances of the incident.
