Posted24 avril 2022, 11:47
An explosion occurred when operators and their customers had gathered to negotiate.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest crude oil producer.
image d’illustration
An explosion at an illegal oil refinery has killed at least 80 people in southern Nigeria, emergency services said on Sunday. The blast happened on Friday evening at an illegal site located between the oil states of Rivers and Imo, according to police. “We have found at least 80 severely burned bodies at the scene,” said Ifeanyi Nnaji, a local official with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), adding that the toll could rise further. “We learned that many bodies were in the bush and the surrounding forests,” he added, adding that several charred vehicles and jerry cans were strewn on the ground scorched with oil.
Frequent drama
Police confirmed the blast took place at the site of an illegal refinery where operators and their customers had gathered to engage in trafficking. Some local media have reported more than 100 killed in the explosion, the latest in a long series in Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude producer where this type of tragedy is frequent.
Vandalized pipelines
In the oil region of the Niger Delta, criminals from certain local communities regularly vandalize pipelines to siphon off hydrocarbons which are then refined on illegal sites and resold on the black market. Most of the inhabitants live in deep poverty despite the millions of dollars generated by their region, with production of around two million barrels per day.
(AFP)