Yemisi Izuora/Agency Report
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has confirmed another pipeline blast at an oil field, operated by the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Bayelsa, killing three people.
The Director-General of the agency, Dr Peter Idabor, reportedly confirmed the deaths.
He said, however, that a staff of the agency was lucky to escape death during the incident.
The dead people were said to be maintenance workers, repairing crude oil pipelines at Olugboro in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
The explosion, which occurred on Easter Sunday, also left several people injured.
Idabor said that the survivor had drawn the attention of oil workers to the breach of safety procedure and left the scene shortly before the incident occurred.
“I received a report of the incident from our staff in Yenagoa office and luckily one of our officers on the team survived.
“Because of the safety conditions of the place after inspection my staff left the place and he was not affected.
“I am going to report the matter officially to the minister of environment today,” Idabor said.
On July 9, 2015 a similar blast at Agip’s oil field in Azuzuama in Southern Ijaw left 14 people dead.
A regulatory official of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Environment and NOSDRA and 12 maintenance crew members were among the victims.