At least five people lost their lives in an explosion in a residential area in OMOKU, headquarters of the local government of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni of the state of Rivers, on Saturday.
Fyneface Dumnamene, an environmentalist and executive director of the Center for Young and Environmental Defense, confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday.
It remained that it was said that the explosion occurred in one of the rooms in a residential area used to store illegally refined refined oil products.
According to Dumnamene, the occupants of the residence where the explosion occurred generally buy illegally refined querosene and other products, store them and resell them to the members of the public.
The statement says in part: “The incident occurred in the last hours of Saturday, April 26 at 11 in the morning, killing five people, four women and one man, burned beyond recognition.”
The Rivers State Police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, also confirmed the incident and casualties.
He explained the cause of the explosion.
According to her, “what really caused the fire was that a resident brought a kitchen stove to the place and was preparing noodles, which lit the fire.
Remember that in March two explosions shook the state of Rivers.
The first explosion was in the Trans-Niger pipe in the area of the local government of Bodo, Gokana, of the state of Rivers. The second was in a pipe collector in the OMWAWRIWA community, OGBA-EGBEMA-UNDONI, area of the local government of the state of Rivers.
Subsequently, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared an emergency state in Los Ríos, the suspended governor Siminalayi Fubara and appointed the retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete was as administrator on March 18, 2025.