More than 100 people were murdered in a Nigerian illicit oil refinery

An explosion at an illegal oil refinery facility on the border of Nigeria’s Rivers and Imo states killed more than 100 people overnight, according to a local government official and an environmental organisation on Saturday.

“The fire breakout happened at an unlawful bunkering site, and it harmed over 100 persons who were burned beyond recognition,” said Goodluck Opiah, the state commissioner for petroleum resources.

The bunkering location was in Imo state’s Ohaji-Egbema local government area, in the Abaezi forest, which straddled the boundary between the two states.

Because of unemployment and poverty in the oil-producing Niger Delta, illicit crude refining has become a lucrative enterprise, but with terrible repercussions. Crude oil is extracted from a network of pipes operated by large oil firms and processed into products in improvised tanks.

The dangerous technique has resulted in several fatalities and has contaminated an area already plagued by oil leaks in fields, waterways, and lagoons.

According to the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, the explosion destroyed numerous automobiles that were waiting in line to acquire illicit gasoline.

The border site is a response to the Rivers state governor’s recent crackdown on illicit refining in an effort to minimise rising air pollution.

“The Rivers state governor has lately undertaken a campaign to wipe out illicit refining in Rivers, forcing it to relocate to the outskirts of neighbouring states.” “There have been multiple raids in the previous month or two, and some security officers involved have been handled,” Ledum Mitee, former president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop), stated.

In October, an explosion and fire at another illicit refinery in Rivers state killed at least 25 people, including several children.

Local officials said in February that they had begun a crackdown to attempt to stop the processing of stolen petroleum, but with little apparent result.

According to government authorities, Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer and exporter, loses an average of 200,000 barrels of oil per day – more than 10% of output – to individuals who tap or vandalise pipelines.

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