Overview
- A midnight operation at Okari Jetty on Thursday, September 3, ended when people tapping a pipeline allegedly inhaled a petroleum product and at least 37 people were confirmed dead with others missing and bodies seen in the river.
- Rivers State police and Indorama-Eleme have opened probes into the circumstance of the deaths while the NSCDC says casualty figures and the exact substance involved still require technical verification.
- Local and NGO reports say suspects had connected a pipe to a tapped point while an export vessel was loading, and the product pumped at high pressure saturated the jetty area, causing many to choke, collapse or fall into the water.
- The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre and other activists are calling for a NOSDRA joint investigation visit, stronger pipeline security by companies, and programs to offer alternative livelihoods such as modular refineries or legalised artisanal refining.
- The tragedy underscores long-term problems in the Niger Delta—poverty, pollution and informal refining—that drive risky oil theft and could prompt tougher enforcement and broader policy debate over how to protect communities and livelihoods.