Conflicting accounts emerge over deaths of more than 10 persons in Okrika Creek

More than 10 persons are feared dead following an incident involving a suspected petroleum product at a creek in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The incident, which reportedly occurred two days ago, has generated conflicting accounts over what led to the deaths, with initial reports linking the victims to alleged illegal oil activities, while residents of the affected communities insist they were fishermen who died after inhaling a substance following an explosion at the site.

Initial reports alleged that the victims died while illegally loading a petroleum product from a pipeline at a creek in the area.

According to the reports, the victims were said to have connected a pipe to a tapping point on a pipeline believed to transport petroleum products from a company through the Port Harcourt Refinery to vessels that periodically arrive to load the products for export.

The reports further alleged that while a vessel was loading the product, the victims were simultaneously transferring the substance into their waiting boats through the illegal tapping point.

It was claimed that the victims inhaled the product being pumped through the pipeline at high pressure, resulting in their deaths.

However, investigations by our correspondent, Soibi Oruwari, who visited some of the communities in Okrika where some of the victims reportedly lived, produced a different account of the incident.

Residents who spoke on condition of anonymity denied that the victims were involved in crude oil theft or any other illegal oil activity.

They said the victims were engaged in fishing at a creek close to the Beat Four pipeline axis when the incident occurred.

The residents questioned how the victims could have been involved in oil theft in the area, arguing that security guards and surveillance personnel are stationed along the pipeline routes around the Beat Four creek.

According to them, the victims inhaled an unidentified substance following an explosion at the site.

They also claimed that the flow of the river made it difficult for some of the victims to escape from the area after the incident.

The conflicting accounts have raised questions about what actually happened at the creek and the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Bereaved families deny link to oil theft

At the residence of one of the victims, Arabibia Minanyo, the wife of the deceased, narrated what she knows about the incident.

The bereaved woman, who was accompanied by one of her sons, told our correspondent that the incident occurred two days before the visit.

She said her husband had since been buried according to their customs.

The family also denied any connection between the deceased and illegal oil activities, insisting that he was not involved in oil theft.

An elder brother of another victim also recounted what he knew about the circumstances surrounding his younger brother’s death.

Activist calls for investigation

Meanwhile, environmental rights activist Fyneface Dunamene has called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, to conduct a Joint Investigation Visit, JIV, to the site of the incident.

Dunamene, who is the Executive Director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, said an independent investigation was necessary to establish the actual cause of the deaths and determine what substance may have been involved.

He said a proper investigation would also help prevent a recurrence and provide clarity on the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Dunamene urged the companies that own the affected facilities to strengthen security and surveillance around their pipelines and other oil and gas infrastructure.

The environmental activist, however, condemned what he described as acts of sabotage by youths in oil-producing communities.

He warned youths against approaching or tampering with oil and gas infrastructure, stressing that pipelines and other petroleum facilities may carry products under high pressure and could pose serious risks to people around them.

The cause of the deaths remains unclear, pending a proper investigation by the relevant authorities.

A Joint Investigation Visit to the site, involving the appropriate regulatory and environmental agencies as well as the operators of the affected facilities, could help establish what happened and whether the incident was connected to oil theft, an explosion, a pipeline leak or exposure to another hazardous substance.