By| Goodluck E.Adubazi, Abuja
Spaces for Change (S4C) has called for an independent technical investigation into an explosion and fire incident in Bille Kingdom, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, which left a woman with severe burn injuries.
The incident, which occurred on Thursday, September 3, 2026, has renewed concerns over persistent reports of gas leakage and seepage in parts of the oil-producing community.
According to an incident report reviewed by S4C, the explosion occurred inside a residential room where the woman was reportedly the only occupant.
The force of the blast reportedly pushed the room’s window outward, while the occupant sustained severe burns and required urgent medical attention.
S4C said while the immediate cause of the explosion must be established through a competent technical investigation, the incident should not be viewed in isolation from longstanding complaints by residents about persistent gas odours, gas bubbling through waterways and the presence of gas around residential and other community spaces.
The organisation said the reports raise serious concerns about possible fire and explosion hazards, environmental contamination, threats to drinking-water sources, public health and the safety of communities whose livelihoods depend heavily on fishing and other natural resources.
Consequently, S4C is demanding an independent Environmental and Legacy Liability Assessment (ELLA) covering the Bille Kingdom and other potentially affected areas.
The organisation said the assessment should determine the source, concentration and migration pathways of the reported gas, as well as examine the condition of affected air, soil, surface water, groundwater and sediments.
It also called for an assessment of the risks posed to human health, community safety, fisheries and livelihoods.
According to S4C, the investigation should 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.
It further urged investigators, where appropriate, to establish whether environmental gas emissions may be connected to incidents such as the recent explosion.
S4C stressed that the process must be independent, scientifically credible and participatory, with affected communities meaningfully involved and the findings made publicly available.
The organisation said where hazards or environmental damage are confirmed, responsible authorities and operators must undertake costed, time-bound remediation and restoration measures, backed by effective monitoring, independent verification and adequate financial safeguards.
It noted that for communities living alongside oil and gas infrastructure, environmental degradation has direct consequences for access to safe water, food security, fisheries, livelihoods, health and personal safety.
The Bille incident, S4C said, therefore highlights the urgent need to place community safety, environmental remediation, corporate accountability and environmental justice at the centre of petroleum-sector governance.
The organisation also warned that changes in ownership of petroleum assets and operator restructuring must not be used to obscure or abandon historical environmental liabilities.
“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,” S4C said.
The group disclosed that it would take concerns emerging from Bille Kingdom into a wider policy and advocacy conversation on environmental accountability, energy justice and extractives governance in the Niger Delta.
As part of the effort, S4C said it would convene stakeholders in Port Harcourt from September 29–30, 2026, to advance discussions on environmental remediation, energy and extractives justice, host-community protection and policy responses to persistent environmental challenges in Nigeria’s oil-producing communities.
S4C called on the Federal Government, relevant petroleum-sector regulators, operators and other stakeholders to urgently support an independent technical investigation into the Bille explosion and establish its cause without prejudgment.
It also urged authorities to scientifically investigate the reported gas leakage and seepage to determine their source, concentration, migration pathways and associated risks.
Where risks or environmental damage are established, the organisation called for effective remediation, ecological restoration and appropriate emergency support for affected persons, including medical assistance where required.
In a statement by Victoria Ibezim-OhaeriExecutive Director, Spaces for Change (S4C), said the people of Bille and other host communities across the Niger Delta deserve credible scientific investigations, transparent determination of environmental liabilities, effective remediation and meaningful protection from continuing environmental risks.
