Civil society organization – Spaces for Change (S4C) – has raised serious alarms over a devastating explosion and fire that struck Bille Kingdom in Rivers State on Thursday, September 3, 2026.
The incident, which occurred in the Degema Local Government Area, left a local woman with severe burn injuries and sparked fresh concerns over regional safety and infrastructure integrity.
In response to the incident, S4C is calling on authorities to immediately commission an independent Environmental and Legacy Liability Assessment (ELLA).
The organization emphasizes that a comprehensive investigation across Bille Kingdom and its surrounding communities is urgently needed to determine the root cause, establish accountability for long-standing environmental damage, and secure restitution for affected residents.
It said the assessment should establish the source, concentration and migration pathways of the reported gas, determine the condition of affected air, soil, surface water, groundwater and sediments, and assess risks to human health, community safety, fisheries and livelihoods.
It should also examine relevant petroleum operations and infrastructure, identify historical and outstanding environmental liabilities, and determine remediation, ecological restoration, decommissioning and abandonment obligations, including their estimated costs and the parties responsible for meeting them.
In an official statement released to PerSecondNews, S4C Executive Director Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri called for an immediate independent investigation and environmental liability assessment following the recent explosion in Bille Kingdom.
Titled “Bille Explosion Amidst Persistent Gas Leakage and Threats to Community Safety – A Call for Independent Investigation and Environmental Liability Assessment,” the statement highlights the ongoing safety risks posed by chronic gas leaks and demands urgent action to protect local residents.
It stated: “The incident has heightened concerns over persistent gas leakage and seepage reported across parts of the community.
“According to an incident report reviewed by Spaces for Change, the explosion occurred inside a residential room where the woman was reportedly the only occupant.
“The force of the incident blasted the room’s window outward, while the occupant sustained severe burn injuries requiring urgent medical attention.
“While the true cause of the explosion requires competent technical investigation, it cannot be considered separately from longstanding concerns raised by residents about persistent gas odours, gas bubbling through waterways and the presence of gas around residential and other community spaces.
“These reports raise serious concerns about potential fire and explosion risks, environmental contamination, threats to drinking-water sources, public health and the safety of communities whose livelihoods depend heavily on fishing and other natural resources.
“Where appropriate, the investigation should examine whether environmental gas emissions are connected to incidents such as the recent explosion.
“The process must be independent, scientifically credible and participatory, with affected communities meaningfully involved and findings transparently disclosed.”
S4C also demanded that where hazards or environmental damage are confirmed, responsible authorities and operators should implement cost-taking and time-bound remediation and restoration measures, supported by effective monitoring, independent verification and adequate financial safeguards.
“For communities living alongside oil and gas infrastructure, environmental degradation directly affects safe water, food security, fisheries, livelihoods, health and personal safety.
“The Bille incident therefore underscores the need to place community safety, environmental remediation, corporate accountability and environmental justice at the centre of petroleum-sector governance.
“As petroleum assets change ownership and operators restructure their portfolios, including situations involving abandoned or stranded infrastructure, divestment must not become a pathway through which historical environmental liabilities are obscured, inadequately funded or transferred to host communities or the Nigerian public.
“Changes in asset ownership must not mean the disappearance of environmental responsibility.
“Spaces for Change is taking the concerns emerging from Bille Kingdom into the wider policy and advocacy conversation on environmental accountability, energy justice and extractives governance in the Niger Delta.
“As part of this effort, Spaces for Change will convene stakeholders in Port Harcourt from 29–30 September 2026 to advance dialogue and advocacy on environmental remediation, energy and extractives justice, host-community protection, and policy responses to persistent environmental challenges in Nigeria’s oil-producing communities.”
S4C also called on the Nigerian Government, relevant petroleum-sector regulators, operators and other responsible stakeholders to urgently undertake or support collective efforts towards an independent technical investigation of the Bille explosion and establish its cause without prejudgment.
It insisted: “The reported gas leakage and seepage should also be scientifically investigated to determine its source, concentration, migration pathways and associated risks.
“Where risks or damage are established, responsible authorities and operators must ensure effective remediation, ecological restoration and appropriate emergency support for affected persons, including medical assistance where required.
“The people of Bille and other host communities across the Niger Delta deserve credible scientific investigation, transparent liability determination, effective remediation and meaningful protection from continuing environmental risks.”
Author
Leave a comment