The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has called for urgent measures to protect communities living around petroleum infrastructure following reports of deaths at Okari Jetty Creeks in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Initial reports indicated that as many as 37 people were feared dead after allegedly inhaling fumes from a petroleum product locally referred to as “Indorama fuel,” technically identified as CRACK C5. There were also reports of an explosion at the site.
The Rivers State Police Command confirmed the incident and said investigations were ongoing, while the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) reported sighting four corpses and noted that the earlier casualty figure had not been fully verified.
There have also been conflicting accounts about what the victims were doing at the time of the incident. While some reports linked the incident to access to petroleum products from a pipeline, residents and relatives disputed the claims. One victim’s wife, for instance, identified her husband as a fisherman.
HOMEF said the uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of the incident should not detract from the urgent need to investigate what happened and protect communities exposed to petroleum-related hazards.
The Executive Director of HOMEF, Dr Nnimmo Bassey, said the incident should serve as a warning about the dangers confronting communities in petroleum-producing areas.
“Up to 37 persons are reported to have breathed their last early this week at Okrika in Rivers State, Nigeria. Others are missing. There has yet to be an official or independent investigation into what caused the fatalities,” Bassey said.
Also Read: EBAS Summit: Preterm Birth Is Family, Health-System, Policy Issue — Agiobu
RSUTH Trains Health Personnel on Advanced Resuscitation Techniques
He said the victims could have been exposed to noxious gases, hazardous fumes or could have drowned after losing consciousness and falling into the river.
Bassey described the incident as an “alarm” over decades of hydrocarbon and toxic waste pollution in the Niger Delta, urging oil companies and relevant government agencies to fulfil their responsibility to protect human lives and the environment.
He also drew attention to other unresolved petroleum-related hazards, including the wellhead fire at Ofiomina-Ama in Okrika, which has reportedly been burning since February 2024, and the Ororo-1 oil well fire off Awoye in Ondo State, which has reportedly continued since May 2020.
He further cited methane bubbling reported in Bille, Rivers State, since December 2025.
“Fires may not be breaking out everywhere in the Niger Delta. Not yet. But the unfolding environmental genocide is inescapable,” Bassey said, warning about the health risks associated with crude oil spills, gas flaring and burning hydrocarbons.
He called for the implementation of the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission Report, as well as what he described as a just decommissioning process for obsolete petroleum infrastructure.
“Our lives are worth more than crude oil,” he said.
HOMEF urged the Federal and Rivers State governments, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), petroleum operators and regulators to strengthen safety measures around petroleum infrastructure.
The organisation called for proper maintenance and security of facilities, functional emergency response systems, community safety education, warning systems, environmental monitoring and adequate emergency response arrangements.
It also urged authorities to establish transparently the circumstances surrounding the Okrika incident and the actual casualty figures, while providing appropriate support to affected families and communities.
HOMEF cautioned against prematurely reducing the incident to oil theft, saying that while any illegal tampering with petroleum infrastructure should be addressed if established, the broader conditions under which communities live alongside hazardous and obsolete facilities must also be confronted.
The foundation called for an urgent assessment of health and environmental risks around petroleum infrastructure, the decommissioning of obsolete facilities and the restoration of polluted environments.
It commiserated with the families and communities affected by the Okrika incident and urged all relevant authorities to take immediate steps to prevent further loss of lives.
