June 22 was like any other day. Residents of Kom-Kom in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State woke up with great expectations of what the day had in store for them. But some of them never had an inkling that death was lurking in the corner. South-South Bureau Chief BISI OLANIYI and ROSEMARY NWISI report that the PPMC pipeline explosion that rocked the peaceful community that day claimed scores of lives of those who went to scoop fuel up from the ruptured pipeline.
Residents of Kom-Kom in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State will never seek a repeat of what they experienced on June 22.
Some residents of the area went for vigil in various churches in the community Friday night and returned home Saturday morning to rest, while the people who slept in their homes throughout Friday night were looking forward to a wonderful Saturday.
Some of them were busy preparing breakfast and planning how to quickly move out and have a hitch-free weekend.
Suddenly, around 7:00 a.m., there was a bang, similar seismic vibration or earth tremor. The entire vicinity vibrated heavily, leading to cracks on walls of houses. Residents’ ceiling fans, other electrical appliances and expensive items fell off the walls on which they were hung.
Young women, who so much cherish their privacy, were seen jumping out of their houses completely naked and running to everywhere but to nowhere in particular just to be safe, while some nursing mothers forgot their children as they attempted to escape from the danger which they had not yet fathomed. Their minds were in a flux.
When the vibration and confusion subsided, and people who ran away had returned to their homes, it was discovered that the bang was caused by explosion from the vandalised pipeline of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which supplies petrol and other refined petroleum products from the Port Harcourt refinery to the depot at neighbouring Aba, in Abia State and other parts of the Southeast zone.
Youths and some courageous men of Kom-Kom then quickly gathered and moved to the scene, only to witness a gory sight of over 150 people who were burnt beyond recognition in the swamp, while scooping “free” fuel.
The sad incident disrupted the plans and movements of the residents of Kom-Kom that fateful Saturday, as many of them lost their loved ones to the inferno. Another taxing experience that confronted them was how to identify their family members who were involved.
Rather than celebrating and, especially enjoying the weekend, most of the residents became busy with burial plans and moving badly-injured survivors to the hospitals where their lives could be saved.
In order to avoid the breakdown of law and order in the area, security personnel from the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), among others, were mobilised to the area.
A youth leader from Kom-Kom who spoke to Niger Delta Report in confidence because of security reasons, revealed that one of the reporters who visited the swampy scene in the downpour alleged that policemen who came to collect bribe from vandals, fired the shots that ignited the fire. The security personnel immediately disappeared from the scene after the explosion had occurred.
The youth, who witnessed the pipeline explosion and who was part of the rescue team, stated that the ignited fire consumed almost everybody at the scene. He those who had scooped petrol were burnt beyond recognition, while the lucky ones managed to escape with injuries.
The youth leader further stated that poverty, hunger, unemployment and economic hardship led the victims, consisting of children, young women, youths and the elderly, to the suicide mission of scooping petrol from the vandalised pipeline. He urged government to provide job opportunities for the people, especially the teeming unemployed but qualified youths.
While reacting to the incident, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), stated that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Usman Belel, had ordered investigation into the matter, particularly the alleged involvement of some policemen in the pipeline explosion.
The police spokesman insisted that the allegation against the policemen was still at the realm of speculation, noting that the report of the ordered investigation would lay to rest the speculation. He declared that anybody indicted would be decisively dealt with in accordance with the law.
In spite of being confronted with photographs and videos of charred bodies, other facts and figures on the Kom-Kom’s pipeline explosion, Omoni maintained that only 10 people lost their lives to the incident, even as he admitted that many people were injured.
The Spokesman of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Rivers State, Mr. Akin Oguntuase, said: “Report reaching me indicates that our men have been able to see some casualties. I may not be able to state the exact number now, for there may be other casualties from other parts.
“From the report reaching me from our men on the ground, the death toll from the pipeline explosion cannot be ascertained for now.”
Oguntuase assured that the fleeing vandals, who managed to survive the pipeline explosion, would be apprehended and prosecuted; to serve as a deterrent to others. The Chairman of Oyigbo Local Government Area, Gerald Oforji, claimed that 12 people died as a result of the pipeline explosion in Kom-Kom.
The Deputy Public Relations Director 6th Division of the Nigerian Army, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, stated that the casualty figure could only be gotten from the police, stressing that soldiers were at the scene to help the victims and maintain peace in conjunction with other security agencies.
One of our reporters who was at Kom-Kom amid downpour, observed the gory sight. Many of the badly-burnt victims in the swamp were yet to be removed.
Those who witnessed the incident in Kom-Kom said a couple, an expectant mother and two brothers of the same parents were part of the victims of the pipeline explosion, which raged for many days before it was eventually put out by a combined team of security personnel, officials of PPMC/NNPC, other government agencies, corporate organisations and members of the community.
A community leader in Kom-Kom, who spoke in confidence because he was not authorised to comment on the issue said: “Besides the couple, an expectant mother, two brothers of the same parents lost their lives to the pipeline explosion. Another family also lost three of their teenage sons and some children under 10, who also went to scoop petrol. They were all consumed by the blaze.
“We saw bodies of many of the victims when they were removed from the swamp. We could not recognise most of them. Many of them are yet to be removed from the swamp, maybe because of the downpour. Before Saturday’s pipeline explosion, this area was like a busy market, with many people struggling to scoop fuel from the swamp.
“Scooping of fuel always took place each time petroleum products were pumped through the pipeline for onward supply to the depot in Aba and other places, but the quantity of fuel that the pipe released last Saturday was so much and that was why it attracted many people who eventually died.
“The PPMC’s pipeline was actually leaking, while the vandals decided to connect hoses to the pipeline and also built a barricade around the area to stop the leaking fuel from wasting. But last Saturday, the leaked fuel was overflowing the barricade. That attracted more people to the scene to scoop fuel.”
It was also learnt that some of the removed bodies were being buried by their relatives, to prevent them from getting a malodourous state in Kom-Kom and its environs.
An elderly woman in Kom-Kom stated that when she heard of the explosion, she was already running away, before she and others saw the fire.
A nursing mother also said: “We woke up on Saturday morning without any problem. Suddenly, around 7:00 a.m., our rooms started to vibrate and the earth was shaking uncontrollably. I did not understand what was going on. So, I had to rush to the door to check without seeing anything.
“I rushed back and picked my baby that was sleeping and I began to run with my mother, who came to take care of my baby and I to only-God-knows where.
“Even the direction we were running to was also vibrating, but before I knew it, I heard a bang and huge fire erupted, followed by smoke. My people later called me to come back, that it was a pipeline that exploded.”
It was also gathered that the new surveillance contractor, UTM that was engaged about three weeks ago, was about reporting the leakage of the fuel to PPMC, when the explosion occurred.
The former surveillance contractor (name withheld), who is indigenous to Oyigbo, whose contract was allegedly terminated by PPMC three weeks earlier without any cogent reason, revealed in a telephone chat that there was never vandalism of pipeline or explosion throughout the over-two years his company protected the facility.
He also revealed that as at Saturday night, the casualty figure was 42, but rose to over 150, with many yet to be discovered in the swamp.
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