Michael Olugbode in Abuja
Environmental activist and President of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, has warned that the reported death of at least 37 people at Okrika in Rivers State has exposed the deepening environmental and public health crisis confronting communities across the Niger Delta.
Bassey, in a statement, said the incident should serve as an urgent wake-up call to the Federal Government, oil companies and regulatory agencies over decades of hydrocarbon pollution, gas emissions and deteriorating oil infrastructure in the region.
At least 37 people reportedly died at the Okari Jetty in Okrika in the early hours of Thursday after allegedly inhaling toxic fumes while attempting to siphon petroleum products from an illegally tapped pipeline. Several others were reportedly missing.
The incident has been confirmed by the Rivers State Police Command, although the police have not released an official death toll and said investigations were ongoing. Other reports have also put the possible number of fatalities higher than 37.
According to Bassey, the victims were reportedly involved in illegal siphoning of a petroleum product locally referred to as “Indorama fuel” from a pipeline operated by Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Company.
He said the exact cause of the deaths should be established through an independent investigation, noting that the victims could have died from inhaling noxious gases released under pressure, asphyxiation or drowning after losing consciousness and falling into the river.
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), which also reported the incident, said more than 100 people had reportedly arrived at the area in boats to collect petroleum products from an illegally tapped point. Some victims reportedly collapsed after being overcome by fumes, while others fell into the river.
Bassey said the tragedy should not be allowed to become another statistic in the long history of environmental disasters in the Niger Delta.
“Then silence. And the dead will become dead statistics,” he warned, arguing that the silence surrounding environmental degradation in the region was itself part of the problem.
The environmentalist drew parallels between the Okrika deaths and the continuing gas emergency in Bille, also in Rivers State, where methane and other gases have reportedly been bubbling from rivers, swamps and wells.
Reports indicate that residents of Bille began observing bubbling water accompanied by a sulphurous smell in October 2025, with the phenomenon subsequently spreading to other locations in the community.
A later assessment by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) reportedly detected methane, volatile organic compounds and hydrogen sulphide in ambient air around affected areas. Methane concentrations were also reported to have reached levels posing significant fire and explosion risks.
Bassey criticised what he described as inadequate government responses to the Bille emergency, arguing that relief materials, fire extinguishers and the provision of a fire truck were insufficient in the face of the potential risks.
He said residents, particularly children and elderly people, had been experiencing health problems which, in his view, suggested that the consequences of the gas emissions extended beyond the immediate risk of fire.
“Truth is that Bille community is being gassed while the government and the oil companies are wringing their hands and watching from the sidelines,” he said.
Bassey also pointed to continuing oil fires and pollution elsewhere in the Niger Delta, citing the Ofiomina-Ama/Alakiri area of Okrika, where an oil-well fire has reportedly continued for years, and the Ororo-1 well off Awoye in Ondo State.
The Ororo-1 oil well fire, which began in 2020, has continued for more than six years, with residents and environmental groups raising concerns over prolonged exposure to smoke, soot and hazardous substances, as well as damage to fishing livelihoods.
According to Bassey, the persistence of such incidents demonstrates what he described as a systemic failure to properly decommission ageing infrastructure, prevent oil spills and protect communities living around oil and gas facilities.
He further cited the recent oil spill at Nembe Creek on OML 29, which he said was reportedly linked to operational failure.
The environmentalist argued that the problem could not be addressed simply by condemning oil theft while ignoring the broader conditions that have allowed illegal oil activities and environmental degradation to persist.
He acknowledged that those who tampered with the pipeline could be regarded as criminals, but maintained that oil theft itself involved a wider network of actors and could not be reduced to the actions of individuals operating at the bottom of the chain.
“Oil thievery is an industrial activity with a long value chain, and players, so to speak,” he said.
Bassey warned that the environmental consequences of oil spills, gas flaring and burning oil wells went beyond visible pollution, pointing to the release of hazardous substances, including benzene, hydrogen sulphide and other volatile hydrocarbons.
He called for urgent action to clean up polluted areas of the Niger Delta, extinguish long-running oil-well fires, remove or replace obsolete infrastructure and improve the security of pipelines.
He also called for the implementation of recommendations contained in the Bayelsa State Oil and Environment Commission Report, as well as a transition strategy centred on what he described as “just decommissioning” rather than an unjust transition.
Bassey said the Okrika tragedy should therefore be treated not merely as another case of illegal oil theft, but as a warning about the broader environmental and human consequences of Nigeria’s decades-old petroleum industry.
“How many more tragedies before we know it is time to clean up the Niger Delta, quench the roaring flames, dismantle and remove decrepit facilities and secure all pipelines by replacing and burying them in the ground?” he asked.
He added: “Our lives are worth more than crude oil.”