A mass lawsuit looms after 20 people were injured and over 50 houses razed as a gas pipeline belonging to Nigeria Gas Company, which allegedly had been leaking for weeks, exploded in Aleto community, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The incident happened Thursday around 5pm and many of the victims were said to be rushed to hospitals.
The Leader of the Eleme Legislative Council, Daniel Chuma, who visited the scene, confirmed the incident, saying he had written to the company about the leak and petitioned relevant authorities, but no action was taken to fix it.
Chuma said, “There was a leakage on another section of the Nigeria Gas Company. We wrote to them, and we did a petition to NOSDRA and Rivers State Ministry of Environment and copied the Police for urgent intervention.
“We asked for a joint investigation. We don’t know what they did before they left. Today we were called to an explosion at the same pipeline of the Nigeria Gas Company that has destroyed over 50 houses, cars, and many casualties. People have been rushed to the hospital.
“Before now, everyone scampered for safety. The few that came, we asked them to stay far away to avoid any further incident.”
The Executive Director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC-Nigeria, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene, in a statement, confirmed the development.
Fyneface said: “We are using this medium to call on the relevant authorities, the Rivers State government, Ministry of Environment, NOSDRA, the Rivers State, the Federal Government, and all the bodies involved in checking oil spill and explosion to come to the aid of Aleto people. This is a serious incident.
“As of the time of this statement, YEAC-Nigeria has not independently confirmed any fatalities.
“Members of the Advocacy Centre’s volunteers who visited the scene for independent verification confirmed the presence of officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps on ground. The cause of the incident is yet to be independently verified.
“YEAC-Nigeria calls on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to identify the facility operator and conduct a Joint Investigation Visit to the site, and to invoke relevant provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 as appropriate,” he added.
The Nigeria Gas Company had yet to comment on the incident, but they may now be looking at the prospect of being dragged to court in a mass action by the victims