Pipeline belonging to Agip Oil
Company has exploded in the Olugboboro community in the Southern Ijaw Local
Government Area (LGA) in Bayelsa State on Sunday, killing three people
dead and seven injured.
The explosion occurred on Easter
Sunday while technical workers from Maco Marine, an oil contracting firm, were
working to clamp a ruptured section of the Agip pipeline.
The corpses of the three victims
were recovered on Monday after the fire subsided. Among the victims was an
underwater welder identified as Nelson Negibo. The other two victims were
indigenes of Ada-ma in Twon-Brass in Brass LGA, Bayelsa State.
Confirming the incident, the
State Coordinator of Environmental Right Action (ERA), Morris Alagoa, described the incident as shocking and tragic.
“The news of another tragic
incident in the oil industry which claimed three lives and injured several
persons came to ERA with great shock. While industrial accidents are part of
the realities of our existence, some are preventable. ERA will not stop calling
on the authorities and regulators of the oil industry to make safety the mantra
of the industry, not just profit. We are calling for a well-constituted panel
of inquiry composed of professionals and stakeholders, including civil society
organizations, to investigate this incident, make recommendations, and report
all findings to the public,” Mr. Alagoa said.
ERA said it will visit the site
of the incident and obtain first-hand testimonies and promise to release a
formal report and related advocacy statements thereafter.
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