Despite the deaths recorded at Okari Jetty in Okrika Town, Rivers State, residents continued to return to the area to scoop spilled petroleum products, exposing the depth of economic hardship and the dangerous choices confronting unemployed youths in the oil-producing community.
The Commander of the Civilian JTF in Okrika Local Government Area, Igwe Godswill, who disclosed this, said the situation showed that simply stopping residents from accessing spilled petroleum products would not end the practice without providing alternative means of livelihood.
“Even as of yesterday, people still went there, despite the fact that we had confirmed that people had died from the same activity,” Godswill said.
His disclosure came as scores of persons remained missing following the incident at the jetty, where several people reportedly choked to death after being overwhelmed by fumes while attempting to collect petroleum products floating on the water.
Community sources told LEADERSHIP that some of those who died were not oil thieves, as initially suggested, but people who had gone to the jetty in search of their daily bread.
The victims were reportedly among residents who rushed to the area after petroleum products spilled onto the water. They were said to have entered the water to scoop the products when they were allegedly overcome by fumes from a vessel loading petroleum products at the jetty.
Several victims reportedly became unconscious and choked to death under a bridge, while others are still feared missing.
Godswill described the incident as tragic, saying most of the victims were young people who had gone out in search of a means of livelihood.
“It is so pathetic that this incident is happening in our community. These are young guys who have gone to search for their daily bread, only for the fumes from the fuel that was pumped to kill so many of our youths under the bridge,” he said.
He stressed that many of the victims should not simply be labelled criminals because their presence at the jetty was linked to the struggle to survive.
“Many of them were choked to death. These are not criminals or anything, but they went out in search of their daily meal,” he said.
The Civilian JTF commander disclosed that about 10 bodies had been recovered, although the identification of some of the victims had been difficult because of the condition of their remains.
“We saw about 10 of them. Four were still unrecognisable, while four persons were identified. The rest could not be identified because their bodies were badly damaged and their faces were severely affected,” Godswill said.
According to him, the number of missing persons could not immediately be established, as families and community members were still searching for relatives who had gone to the jetty and had not returned.
Godswill said residents were willing to continue taking the risk because many had few legitimate opportunities to earn an income.
He called on the Rivers State Government, local government authorities, community leaders and other relevant stakeholders to urgently create employment opportunities for youths in the area.
“It is not enough to stop them because, yes, it is a risky job, but they should create jobs for the youths so that everybody will have something to eat,” he said.
According to him, restricting access to spilled petroleum products without addressing unemployment and poverty would only push residents towards other dangerous activities.
“Something that can put food on the tables of these young men, the youths and every other person. I can tell you for free that it will not just stop because when that source is the only livelihood, people will still go there,” he said.
