At least 20 people have been injured and about 50 houses razed after a gas pipeline explosion rocked Aleto community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State on Thursday evening.

The blast occurred around 5pm along Old Bori Road, following an alleged rupture on a pipeline belonging to the Nigeria Gas Company, according to reports by Vanguard, The Sun, PUNCH and Daily Trust.

Several victims were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment, while stalls, a mechanic workshop and vehicles parked within the premises were also destroyed in the resulting fire.
Residents told reporters the pipeline had been leaking for about three weeks before the explosion.

Vanguard and Nigeria Info identified the resident who gave that account as Emmanuel, while PUNCH, The Star and Daily Post quoted a resident with the same account under the name Stanley.

“The pipeline has caused injuries and damaged properties. This pipeline has been leaking for about three weeks before the explosion today,” he said. Most of those affected were passers-by and traders doing business in the area, he added.

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The Leader of the Eleme Legislative Council, Daniel Chuma, who visited the scene, said he had written to the company about the leak and petitioned relevant authorities, but alleged that no concrete action was taken to stop it.
“There was a leakage on another section of the Nigeria Gas Company.

We wrote to them and submitted a petition to NOSDRA and the Rivers State Ministry of Environment, copying the police for urgent intervention,” Chuma said.

“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 Nigeria Gas Company pipeline that has destroyed over 50 houses and cars, with many casualties. People have been rushed to the hospital.”

Chuma said no representative of the company had visited the scene at the time he spoke, adding that community members had cordoned off the area with barrier tape and asked residents to stay away to avoid further incidents.

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Meanwhile, the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) said it had deployed volunteers to the scene, confirmed the incident and reported that several residents had been hospitalised, but said it had 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,” Executive Director Dr Fyneface Dumnamene said in a statement.

Dumnamene urged the Rivers State Government, the Ministry of Environment, NOSDRA and the Federal Government to “come to the aid of Aleto people.”

The group also called on the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency to identify the facility operator, conduct a Joint Investigation Visit to the site and invoke relevant provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 where appropriate.

When contacted, the Rivers State Police Command spokesperson, ASP Agabe Blessing Kaborlo, told Daily Trust she was not aware of the incident and requested a text message to enable her make enquiries.

She had not responded as of the time of filing. The NSCDC spokesperson, Mr Ihemnacho Umeado, also said he would make enquiries and had yet to revert.

Accounts of the incident differed in some details. Most reports named the Nigeria Gas Company as the operator of the ruptured line, while Daily Trust reported that residents said the pipeline belonged to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and that the fire began shortly after 2pm.

 

The cause of the rupture had not been independently verified as of Friday morning, and there was no official confirmation of deaths or of the full scale of the damage.