Not less than 7 people were killed on Sunday when an explosion occurred in Port Harcourt Refinery Jetty in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The explosion was allegedly triggered by the activities of pipeline vandals and oil thieves.
Chairman of Okrika Local Government Area, Tamuno Williams, confirmed the incident, stating that oil thieves were siphoning petroleum products to the creeks.

Williams accused the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), of being negligent.

He alleged that oil thieves in connivance with PPMC were responsible for the explosion.
“Such activities, such connection, such highly technical work, well-constructed by experts, could not have been perfectly done without the connivance of the PPMC.

Credit: Punch