Residents Count Losses As Gas Explosion Rocks Rivers Community

A gas explosion in Obagi community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State has thrown the residents of the area in panic, less than a month after a similar incident occured and claimed some lives in nearby Omoku, which lies within the council area.

According to findings, there was no loss of lives in the explosion which occured in a pipeline that belongs to the Nigeria Agip Oil Company, but it caused panic among the residents of the area.

They said that the leakages of gas pipes remain a potent threat to their health and wellbeing, adding that explosion has also instilled fear in them.

According to the community’s traditional ruler, Eze Elemele, the gas leak started in the middle of last year, and that when the community wrote a letter of complaint, Agip and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas denied owning the facility.

He said that it was only after the explosion that Agip admitted it’s ownership.

Another resident expressed fear amid uncertainties and the danger that the pipeline posed to resident, urging the owners to work towards the safety of the residents.

“You do not know what to expect in the outdoors, especially when you are in the farm. It’s scary out there because some engineers and other experts working for big oil companies are not doing their jobs,” says a resident.

Some residents claim that the explosion was caused by leakages from a major pipe conveying gas and that despite the people of the area getting in touch with the “the oil company that operates the pipeline no action was taken to avert the danger the leakages posed.”

They also decried the siting of pipeline in the community by the oil company in charge without carrying out a thorough Environmental Impact Assessment, noting that they are being made to supper the actions of the oil company.

The chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Vincent Job, who visited the site of the explosion, linked it to equipment failure.

“For us who are novices in the oil field, you will find out that some of these equipment have lasted for more than 30 or 40 years which calls for their removal.”

“You will find out that the locals are there and they suffer a lot of this degradation. The Federal Government and the International Oil Companies should ensure that their pipelines and facilities are up to date.”