At least 37 people died early Thursday in Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta after inhaling toxic fumes while attempting to steal crude oil, a local advocacy group said, with many others still missing.
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, known as YEAC-Nigeria, said it received and confirmed reports from its network of youth volunteers and human rights defenders that the deaths occurred in the Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State. The group said those killed are suspected to have been oil thieves, and that many others remain unaccounted for, with some bodies spotted floating in the river but not yet recovered.
Rivers State police confirmed the incident but did not provide a death toll. “The Rivers State Police Command can confirm the deaths. The victims were allegedly attempting to steal crude oil,” police spokesperson Blessing Agabe said, adding that an investigation was underway.
What We Know So Far
Accounts differed slightly on exactly how the theft was being carried out. YEAC-Nigeria said the group had connected a pipe to a tapping point on a pipeline that normally transports crude from producer Indorama Eleme Petrochemical through the Port Harcourt Refinery to vessels loading for export, and that the men were loading stolen oil into their own boats when the incident occurred. A separate account described the theft as occurring at an illegal tapping point connected to a loading vessel rather than the pipeline itself, a discrepancy in the exact mechanics of the theft that had not been resolved as of the latest reporting. Both accounts agreed that victims were overcome by toxic fumes, with one report specifying the fumes were inhaled at high pressure during the siphoning process.
Illegal oil siphoning remains a major and persistent problem in Nigeria, an OPEC member and one of Africa’s largest petroleum producers, contributing to serious environmental pollution across the Niger Delta. Accidents are common in the region’s swamps, where smugglers regularly tap into pipelines to steal crude oil, which is then refined into fuel for illegal sale.
What Authorities and Advocates Are Saying
The opposition African Democratic Congress blamed the incident on the country’s broader economic situation, arguing it forces people into desperate action to survive. The party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is set to challenge President Bola Tinubu in elections scheduled for January. Tinubu introduced tough economic reforms after taking office in 2023 that triggered high inflation, sharply rising fuel prices and increased poverty nationwide.
YEAC-Nigeria called on the government to provide alternative livelihood opportunities for residents in the region, including legalizing artisanal refining as a way to reduce the incentive for dangerous illegal tapping operations.
Why This Matters
The Niger Delta holds Nigeria’s multibillion dollar oil and gas resources, yet residents of the region continue to live in poverty due to decades of oil exploration, government neglect and environmental pollution, a contradiction that has long fueled both illegal oil theft and broader regional unrest. The Nigerian government has said oil theft costs the country several billion dollars in losses annually and has pursued crackdowns on the practice, though incidents like Thursday’s illustrate how the underlying economic desperation driving people toward these dangerous operations remains largely unaddressed by enforcement efforts alone.
The political dimension raised by the African Democratic Congress, linking the tragedy directly to Tinubu’s economic policies, is likely to become a talking point in the run-up to January’s presidential election, particularly given the timing of the incident and its location in a region already marked by economic hardship despite its resource wealth.
What Happens Next
Rivers State police said their investigation into the incident is ongoing, though no timeline has been given for when additional details, including a finalized death toll, might be released. Search efforts for the missing were expected to continue, with some bodies already spotted in the river but not yet recovered as of the latest reporting.
Given YEAC-Nigeria’s call for legalized artisanal refining and alternative livelihood programs, pressure is likely to build on the Tinubu administration to address the root economic causes of illegal oil theft, particularly as the issue becomes entangled with opposition criticism ahead of January’s election.
Reporting drawn from Agence France-Presse via Daily Star and the Associated Press
