Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, has raised the alarm following another gas explosion in Bille, an island community in the Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State. The civil society organisation warned that swift intervention by the Federal and Rivers State governments is required to avert further incidents and potential mass casualties.
The warning was issued in a press statement signed by Robert Egbe, CAPPA’s Media and Communications Officer, and distributed to news outlets in Abuja.
According to CAPPA, the latest explosion occurred at approximately 8:00 am on Thursday, September 3, 2026, at No. 18, Opu Ibiila, Bille. The blast blew out the building’s windows, set part of the premises ablaze, and left an occupant, Joy Amos, injured from burns.
The incident occurred just two weeks after CAPPA released its report and documentary, titled Danger! Bille Is Highly Flammable, which called for urgent state intervention to address worsening gas seepage and bubbling across the area.
Timothy Agunbiade, Vice President of the Bille Kingdom Youth Federation, arrived shortly after the blast and corroborated the account. He noted that the victim’s phone, power bank, and cooking gas cylinder remained intact, indicating that the explosive force had originated from within the room itself.
“I asked her what might have caused it,” Agunbiade reported. “She explained that whenever she lay down at night when the surroundings were quiet, she could hear bubbling sounds inside her room. She had mentioned it to a few people, though she had not yet informed her landlady.”
CAPPA stated that the incident underscores an escalating emergency in Bille that can no longer be met with routine visits, sample collection, and official silence.
“Bille illustrates the severe consequences of extraction activities in the Niger Delta,” said Zikora Ibeh, CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director. “While resources are extracted, residents are too often left to face polluted water, disrupted livelihoods, and serious environmental risks. No industry should be permitted to transfer the human and environmental costs of its operations onto host communities. Whatever investigations ultimately establish as the source of these emissions, the failure to protect Bille after months of warnings is indefensible.”
As an immediate precautionary measure, the organisation demanded a temporary suspension of oil and gas operations in and around Bille until the source of the gas seepage is identified and independent experts confirm the area is safe.
CAPPA stressed that the risk can no longer be considered isolated. It urged the authorities to implement comprehensive emergency measures for the entire community, including the deployment of first responders, temporary evacuation for affected residents, continuous air and water quality monitoring, and clear public safety advisories.
Furthermore, CAPPA called on the Rivers State Government, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, the Federal Ministry of Environment, and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to launch a transparent, coordinated investigation alongside independent experts.
The organisation urged these bodies to thoroughly assess all active, ageing, idle, and abandoned oil and gas infrastructure in the region—including wells, pipelines, and production facilities—and to decommission or secure any unsafe assets without delay. CAPPA also called for the full publication of all test results and investigative findings, alongside a clear timeline for resolving the emissions and restoring safety to the community.
Source: Aljazirah
