Five persons are feared dead at an illegal petroleum storage site in Omoku, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) of Rivers State.

The Guardian gathered that the explosion occurred in a house where people purchased and stored illegally refined petroleum products, including condensate for resale in the area.

Members of the Advocacy Centre youth volunteers network under the auspices of the One Million Youth Volunteers Network of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters in the Niger Delta in ONELGA confirmed the incident.

According to the Executive Director of Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), Dr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, who is their leader, the incident occurred in the late hours of Saturday, April 26, by about 11AM, killing five persons, four females and one male burnt beyond recognition.

Fyneface, while calling for an investigation into the incident, the Advocacy Centre warned residents and youths against involvement in pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, artisanal refineries, and trading in illegally refined petroleum products, including home storage, to avoid ugly incidents of such nature.

The group leader also used the opportunity to call on the Federal Government to legalise artisanal refineries in the Niger Delta through the establishment of its July 27, 2020 proposed Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) and/or Modular Refineries for artisanal Refiners in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region to mitigate incidents of this nature.