NEMA confirms fire outbreak near Port Harcourt refinery

Umesi Emenike, the South-South Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has confirmed a fire incident near the Port Harcourt refinery on Sunday.

Emenike told NAN in Port Harcourt on Sunday that the fire did not, however, affect the main refinery before it was put out by fire service officers.

He said NEMA officials were still assessing the situation to ascertain whether there was loss of life and property.

“Our officers are still assessing the situation. At the moment, we cannot give details of the extent of damage,” he said.

The Chairman of Okrika Local Government Council in Rivers, Tamuno Williams, told journalists that the incident occurred at a creek near the NNPC jetty in Okrika early on Sunday.

He said the fire was caused by an explosion as a result of illegal siphoning of petroleum products from a pipeline belonging to NNPC.

Williams said the casualty figure could not be ascertained for now due to the nature of the terrain where the incident happened and the security cordon around the jetty.