TWO flow stations reportedly belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPCL), located around the Cawthorne Channel area on Western Bonny Local Government Area in Rivers State, went up in flames on Wednesday.
This newspaper gathered that an unknown number of crew members working on the flow stations before the explosion occurred were yet to be seen.
The cause of the inferno is suspected to be failure to adhere to safety protocols and global best practices in managing oil and gas facilities lately in the Niger Delta region.
This is coming a few weeks after a fire outbreak was recorded in part of OML 18 in Bukuma creek in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area in Rivers State.
Recently, there has been incessant explosions and fire incidents due to gas leakages and oil spills across the Niger Delta region.
A viral video sighted by this newspaper showed a huge raging fire destroying fishes and other water bodies which are the major sources of livelihood of members of the riverine communities.
Confirming the latest fire outbreak in Bonny flow channel, a community leader in the Cawthorne Channel of Bonny Local Council, Daniel Pollyn, said some people have been deployed to conduct a search to rescue crew members working on the flow stations.
Pollyn also confirmed that the facilities belonged to NNPCL and lamented that the company had remained mute 24 hours after the incident occurred.
He said the number of casualties were yet to be ascertained.
“We have not been able to ascertain the number of casualties for now. But know that all the crew workers in the affected vessels are being searched for up till this moment as I speak,” said Pollyn.
He blamed the NNPCL for alleged neglect, saying the community awaits a joint investigation visit (JIV) to ascertain what actually went wrong.
Meantime, the community leader has called for relief materials to support residents who lost their sources of living, compensation for the devastation of the environment as well as clean-up and remediation.
Pollyn disclosed that his community representatives and some officials from NNPCL were engaging on the matter and assured that the issues must have been resolved before Monday.
Similarly, the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) also confirmed the explosion and crude oil spillage into the water bodies in the Bonny local government area.
Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, the Executive Director, YEAC-Nigeria, called on authorities, especially the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) to detect the barrels of crude oil that has been spilled into the ecosystem as a result of the explosion and hold the company responsible to account.