An explosion struck a section of the Trans Niger pipeline in Bodo Community, Gonna local government area of Rivers State on Monday evening. The incident occurred near the ongoing Bodo-Bonny road construction project.
Ogoni Youth Federation President General Sunday Yamaabana has alleged deliberate sabotage as the cause of the explosion.
“The preliminary investigation that we have done reveals that it is an act of sabotage,” Yamaabana told TVC in an interview From Minute 3:30. “The place was dug to set the fire ablaze, I have the pictures.”
While maintaining that a “joint investigation visit to the site will further reveal what actually transpired,” Yamaabana expressed the Ogoni Youth leadership’s commitment to assisting authorities. “We are ready to partner with security agencies to fish out the perpetrators of this dastardly act.”
The youth leader emphasized the environmental impact concerns for the already polluted region. “We do not want any further environmental degradation in Ogoni. We are already living with it and we are tired,” he stated. “Federal government yet is making efforts to clean up the land, so we do not need all of this because our livelihood is gone and our ecosystem is gone.”
Yamaabana called for support of government remediation efforts: “What we need is to support the government in remediating Ogoni land so that we can go in for full oil and gas exploration activities for the economic activities of the place to bounce back.”
Reports indicate the explosion occurred near the Bodo-Bonny road construction site, which is being built by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC through joint funding between Nigeria LNG Limited and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Trans Niger Pipeline is a critical infrastructure that transports approximately 150,000 barrels of crude oil daily to the Bonny export Terminal through its pipeline network.