Eleme gas blast: rights group HOMEF wants unsafe pipelines shut, old lines replaced

A gas pipeline explosion in Aleto, a community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, has left residents counting losses and community leaders demanding a full safety review of the pipelines that run through their land.

The blast happened on 15 October 2026, according to the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), an environmental group that visited the area the next day. Homes, shops and vehicles were damaged and some residents were injured, the group said in a statement on Tuesday.

HOMEF is asking the Federal Government to order the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), a subsidiary of NNPC Limited, and regulators to investigate what caused the explosion and to publish their findings. It also wants any pipeline found unfit for use shut down or removed, and a full integrity check of the corridor before operations resume.

Warnings before the blast

Residents say the explosion did not come without warning. Woke Ebie, Youth President of Aleto and Secretary of the Eleme Youth Council Worldwide, said a suspected leak was reported to NGIC about two weeks before the blast. Company representatives came, looked at the spot and put up a barricade, he said, but the explosion happened the following day.

Ebie also said another leak had occurred roughly two months earlier, about 200 metres from where the latest explosion happened.

Obarilomate Ollor, chairman of Eleme Local Government Area, said the pipeline could be at least 50 years old. In his words, a line that old is "beyond decrepit" and should have been replaced or retired long ago. He wants the Federal Government to direct NGC to assess the damage, find the cause, attend to victims, provide relief and review its pipeline network, including replacing ageing lines.

The paramount ruler of Eleme, King Philip Osaro Obele, said the area hosts two refineries, two fertiliser companies, a petrochemical plant, the Onne terminals, Shell flow stations and the largest NNPC housing estate in the East. He asked for a state of emergency covering the whole of Eleme, not just Aleto, and urged the government and NGC to act on repeated gas leaks.

For ordinary residents, the cost is already personal. One victim, Esther Bright, said she lost goods and her phone when her shop was damaged, and that a point-of-sale bag holding about ₦100,000 was lost as she fled. "This explosion is already destroying livelihoods and pushing our households into financial distress," she said.

HOMEF also called for medical help and fair compensation for injured residents and for those whose homes and businesses were damaged, and for communities to be included in safety checks and decisions that affect them.

What happens next

No cause has been officially established, and it is not clear whether NGIC or NNPC Limited has responded to the demands. What residents will be watching is whether an investigation is opened, whether relief reaches victims, and whether the ageing lines running past their homes are replaced or shut.