Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
No fewer than 37 people are feared dead following an incident involving suspected petroleum product inhalation at Okari Jetty in Okrika Mainland area of Rivers State.
The incident reportedly occurred around midnight on Thursday, September 3, 2026, while petroleum products were allegedly being transferred from a pipeline tapping point into boats in the area.
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), in a statement by its Executive Director, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said it received reports from its network of youth volunteers and human rights defenders in the Niger Delta that no fewer than 37 persons had died.
According to the organisation, several other people remain unaccounted for, while some bodies were reportedly sighted floating on the river but had yet to be recovered.
