From Tony John, Port Harcourt
About 20 persons were injured and 50 houses razed following a gas pipeline explosion in Aleto community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State on Thursday evening.
It was gathered that the explosion, which occurred around 5pm, was caused by a ruptured pipeline belonging to the Nigeria Gas Company along Old Bori Road in Aleto.
While many victims were rushed to hospital, stalls and a mechanic workshop with vehicles parked inside were heavily affected by the inferno.
A resident of the area, who asked not to be named, said the pipeline had been leaking for weeks before the blast.
“The pipeline has caused injuries and damaged property. This pipeline has been leaking for about three weeks before the explosion today,” he said.
He disclosed that community leaders had notified the company about the leakage, but no proper action was taken.
He added that most of those affected were passers-by and business owners operating within the vicinity.
Confirming the incident, the Leader of Eleme Legislative Council, Daniel Chuma, who visited the scene, said he had earlier written to the company about the leak and petitioned relevant authorities for urgent intervention.
“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 hospital,” Chuma stated.
He lamented that no representative of the company had visited the scene at the time of filing this report.
“What we have done is to guard the incident scene with caution tapes and asked our community people to stay off.
“Before now everyone scampered for safety. The few that came we asked them to stay far to avoid any further incident,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC-Nigeria, has also confirmed the incident, saying many victims have been hospitalised.
Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene, in a statement said: “We are using this medium to call on the relevant authorities, the Rivers State government, Ministry of Environment, NOSDRA, the Federal Government, and all the bodies involved in checking oil spill and gas explosion to come to the aid of Aleto people. This is a serious incident.”
Dumnamene noted that the inferno was still raging at press time and affected surrounding buildings, with some residents reportedly hospitalised.
“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 the 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.
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