Fire kills 20, injures many at illegal refinery in Bayelsa

20 people died, many others injured in fire accident.

A fire accident which occurred at an illegal refinery camp at Kolo Creek in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has reportedly claimed the lives of 20 people, leaving several others with severe injuries.

The camp near the creeks of Ebelebiri and Otuogwe went up in flames on December 5, 2017, when a woman, according to community sources, attempted to cook noodles with a stove which caused the fire that wrecked the havoc.

An eyewitness, who described the incident as tragic said the victims were burnt beyond recognition, adding that despite the ugly incident, people were seen illegally cooking crude oil there.

“When we got there, I almost vomited. I saw charred remains of people. They were burnt beyond recognition. In some cases, you could only see heads and feet of victims. Despite the burnt bodies, we still met people illegally cooking crude oil there. We thought that security agencies, especially the military, would have taken over the place, but we didn’t meet any security operatives. We only met people who were still refining illegally bunkered crude oil. It was that bad and terrible,” the eyewitness said.

A police source had told newsmen that the Commissioner of Police discovered the existence of the illegal camp through intelligence reports and had warned of the aftermath and consequences.

It was gathered that the camp, allegedly owned by a powerful cartel, had been in operation for a long time and the state police command had appealed to the security agencies in charge of oil theft to arrest the operators.

The source said the commissioner had, in September, allegedly sent a letter to security commanders in charge of oil theft, calling on them to treat the matter with urgency.

He quoted the letter in part, “Information gathered revealed that the presence of ongoing illegal refining of petroleum products such as kerosene, diesel at Ebelebiri and Otuogwe, two communities in the Ogbia LGA of Bayelsa State, under the Kolo jurisdiction.

“The activities of these criminals constitute economic sabotage to the nation as well as endangering lives and properties as explosion on this pipeline may lead to disaster”.