Bille Gas Explosion: CAPPA Demands Action as Woman Suffers Severe Burns

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Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called for urgent government intervention in Bille, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, following another gas-related explosion that severely burned a resident.

The latest incident occurred at about 8 a.m. on Thursday, September 3, at No. 18, Opu Ibiila Community, Bille, just two weeks after CAPPA raised the alarm over widespread gas bubbling and seepage in the island community.

The organisation said the explosion set part of the house ablaze, shattered its windows and left the occupant, Joy Amos, with extensive burns.

CAPPA, in a statement by its Media and Communications Officer, Robert Egbe on Saturday, urged the Rivers State Government to immediately provide specialist medical treatment for Amos and cover all associated rehabilitation costs.

Amos, an Ogoni woman, reportedly told CAPPA that she had repeatedly heard bubbling sounds from beneath the floor of her apartment at night.

She said the blast occurred while she was lying on her bed using her phone.

“I was in my room on the bed, using my phone, when I heard ‘poof!’ My windows shattered, and fire surrounded me,” Amos said.

She said she grabbed her phone and power bank before running out of the room and calling for help.

The Vice President of the Bille Kingdom Youth Federation, Timothy Agunbiade, who arrived shortly after the incident, corroborated her account, saying the phone, power bank and gas cylinder were unaffected.

He said the force of the blast appeared to have travelled from inside the room outward, adding that the floor had been generating heat and appeared to be under pressure before the explosion.

The latest incident came shortly after CAPPA presented its documentary and report, Danger! Bille Is Highly Flammable, in which it warned of worsening gas emissions in the community.

During a visit to Bille on July 6, the organisation said it documented gas emissions from wells, boreholes, residential compounds, waterways and school grounds.

CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, Zikora Ibeh, described the latest explosion as evidence of an escalating emergency that could no longer be addressed through official visits and sample collection without decisive action.

“No industry should be permitted to transfer the human and environmental costs of its operations onto communities,” Ibeh said.

CAPPA demanded the immediate suspension of oil and gas activities in and around Bille until the source of the emissions is established and independent experts certify the community as safe.

It also called for the evacuation of residents to safe temporary accommodation, deployment of emergency-response teams, continuous air and water-quality monitoring, and clear public warnings on the risks posed by the emissions.

The group further urged the Rivers State Government, NOSDRA, NUPRC, NMDPRA, the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to launch a transparent, coordinated investigation with independent experts.

According to CAPPA, the investigation should examine active, ageing, idle and abandoned oil and gas infrastructure around Bille, including wells, wellheads, pipelines and production facilities.

It also called for unsafe infrastructure to be isolated or decommissioned, with all test results and investigative findings made public.

Beyond the immediate environmental concerns, CAPPA urged the government to treat the situation as a public-health emergency by providing specialist burn care, respiratory and toxic-exposure services, emergency clinics, ambulances, hospital referrals, free treatment and rehabilitation.

The organisation also demanded safe water, compensation and livelihood support for residents whose fishing and other sources of income had been disrupted.

“The authorities were warned. A woman has now been severely burned, while the people of Bille remain exposed to potentially dangerous gases,” Ibeh said.

“Government cannot wait for deaths before acting.”

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