By Joyce Ekeh
A fresh gas explosion in Bille, Rivers State, has left a woman severely burned and raised fresh fears of a looming environmental and public health disaster in the oil-rich community, with an environmental advocacy group, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, demanding the immediate evacuation of residents from danger zones.
The latest blast occurred at about 8 a.m. on Thursday at No. 18, Opu Ibiila Community, Bille, in Degema Local Government Area, LGA, barely two weeks after CAPPA raised the alarm over widespread gas bubbling and seepage in the community.
The organisation said the explosion set part of the house ablaze, shattered its windows and left the occupant, Joy Amos, with extensive burns requiring urgent specialist medical attention.
CAPPA urged the Rivers State Government to immediately take responsibility for Amos’ treatment, including all medical and rehabilitation costs.
Recounting the terrifying incident, Amos said she had repeatedly heard bubbling sounds beneath the floor of her apartment, particularly at night.
“I was in my room on the bed, using my phone, when I heard ‘poof!’ My windows shattered, and fire surrounded me,” she said.
“I grabbed my phone and power bank—the only things I remembered to take—and ran out of the room naked. I dropped them in front of my bathroom, ran outside and began to call for help.”
Her account was corroborated by the Vice President of the Bille Kingdom Youth Federation, Timothy Agunbiade, who arrived at the scene shortly after the explosion.
Agunbiade said the force of the blast appeared to have originated inside the room and travelled outward, noting that Amos’ phone, power bank and gas cylinder were not affected.
“I asked her what the cause could be. She said she had been hearing bubbling sounds in her room at night whenever she lay down and everywhere else was quiet,” he said.
“She had complained to one or two people but had not informed her landlady.”
Agunbiade said residents had also observed heat coming from the floor of Amos’ room before the explosion, suggesting pressure from beneath the building.
The incident has intensified concerns over the safety of Bille, coming shortly after CAPPA released its documentary and report, “Danger! Bille Is Highly Flammable”, warning that unchecked gas bubbling and seepage could trigger a major disaster.
During a July 6 visit to the community, CAPPA said it documented gas emissions from wells, boreholes, residential compounds, waterways and school grounds.
Assistant Executive Director of CAPPA, Zikora Ibeh, said the latest explosion showed that government could no longer afford to respond to the situation with inspections and sample collection without decisive action.
“Bille exposes the inhuman bargain at the heart of reckless extraction in the Niger Delta,” Ibeh said.
“Wealth is taken from communities and transferred to corporations and the state, while residents are left with polluted water, damaged livelihoods, illness and danger.”
He added: “Whatever the investigation ultimately establishes as the source of these emissions, the failure to protect Bille after months of warnings is indefensible.”
CAPPA called for an immediate suspension of oil and gas activities in and around Bille until the source of the bubbling and seepage is established and independent experts certify the community as safe.
It also demanded emergency measures covering the entire community, including the deployment of emergency response teams, evacuation of residents to safe temporary accommodation, continuous monitoring of air and water quality and clear public information on the risks.
The group called on the Rivers State Government, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA; Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, NUPRC; Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA; Federal Ministry of Environment; Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and other relevant agencies to launch a transparent, coordinated investigation.
The investigation, it said, should determine the source of the emissions and examine all active, ageing, idle and abandoned oil and gas infrastructure in and around Bille, including wells, wellheads, pipelines and production facilities.
CAPPA further demanded that unsafe infrastructure be isolated, resolved or decommissioned immediately, with all test results and investigative findings made public.
It said the government should also treat the crisis as a public health emergency by deploying multidisciplinary medical teams with expertise in burn care, respiratory illness and toxic exposure.
The organisation demanded round-the-clock emergency clinics, ambulance and hospital referral services, free diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for affected residents, as well as safe drinking water, compensation and livelihood support for households whose fishing and other sources of income had been disrupted.
“The authorities were warned. A woman has now been severely burned, while the people of Bille remain exposed to potentially dangerous gases,” Ibeh said.
“Government must move residents out of harm’s way, provide urgent medical care, identify and stop the source of the emissions, and account publicly for its response.”
He warned that waiting for fatalities before acting would be unacceptable.
“The wealth extracted from the Niger Delta cannot continue to enrich corporations and public coffers while host communities are left to breathe contaminated air, drink unsafe water and fear explosions in their homes,” Ibeh said.
“The people of Bille have carried this burden long enough. Government cannot wait for deaths before acting.”
With the latest explosion now adding a severely injured resident to months of warnings about gas emissions, pressure is mounting on authorities to establish the source of the hazard and determine whether residents of Bille are facing a wider and potentially catastrophic threat.
