On March 3, 2023, at around 2 AM, an explosion occurred when one of the buses carrying crude oil kicked its vehicle while it was being driven to another location where it would be refined in artisanal refineries.
YEAC-Crude Nigeria’s Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS) and members of its “One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta” have reported to ABN Tv that an explosion at a crude oil tapping point in Rumuekpe Community in Emohua Local Government Area has claimed many lives.
Many automobiles and tricycles were destroyed in the explosion and fire at the tapping point believed to be on the Trans Niger Delta Pipeline (TNP), which ran through the neighborhood and left dozens of people dead, including women, and burned beyond recognition.
The President’s Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) was proposed by the Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, who has led the advocacy for the past 12 years for the provision of alternative livelihood opportunities for artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta through the promotion of Modular Refineries promised by the Federal Government.
According to the account, the explosion killed several people who had loaded the crude and were waiting to load it, including ladies, while it also claimed that everyone who was at the exact tapping location in the “pit” perished.
The Nigeria Arm area men were already at the scene of the incident, and the Police claimed to be on their way there, according to eyewitness reports and other sources that verified the incident in the community, which made it difficult to take pictures and recordings.
As more pictures and details about this incident are obtained from the scene in the neighborhood, ABN Tv will educate the public.
