37 people die from fumes during oil pipeline theft in Nigeria

At least 37 people died early Thursday in Nigeria's oil-rich southern Niger Delta after inhaling fumes during the theft of fuel from a pipeline, a local NGO said.

Illegal oil-siphoning is a major problem in Nigeria -- an OPEC member and one of Africa's largest petroleum producers -- causing serious pollution.

Accidents are common in swamps in the Niger Delta, where smugglers tap into pipelines to steal crude and refine it into fuel for sale.

The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) said it had "received and confirmed a report from its network of youth volunteers and human rights defenders in the Niger Delta in the Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State that some persons, not fewer than 37 have been confirmed dead after inhaling 'Indorama fuel'."

It said in a statement that those killed are "suspected to be oil thieves", adding: "Many others are still missing."

It said "youths 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.

The men tapped into the pipeline and were loading oil into their own boats, it said.

"Many are still missing, and some corpses have been seen floating on the river but have not yet been recovered," the organisation said.

Oil pollution

Rivers State police confirmed the incident in a statement saying the victims were allegedly attempting to steal oil, but it did not give a toll.

The Niger Delta is home to Nigeria's multi-billion-dollar oil and gas resources, but residents of the region live in poverty due to decades of oil exploration, neglect and pollution.

The opposition party African Democratic Congress blamed the accident on the "economic situation in the country" which it said forces people to take desperate action.

The party's candidate Atiku Abubakar will challenge President Bola Tinubu in elections in January.

When he came into office in 2023, Tinubu introduced tough economic reforms that triggered high inflation, soaring fuel prices and rising poverty.

YEAC-Nigeria called "on the government to provide alternative livelihood opportunities", including "the legalization of artisanal refining".