Nigeria declares state of emergency following pipeline explosions during unrest in Rivers State

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday evening (March 18). The announcement was made a few hours after he summoned an emergency meeting with his service chiefs and the inspector-general of police at the Aso Rock presidential villa following explosions at two oil pipelines in Rivers State, The Punch reported.

According to the media outlet, between late Monday and Tuesday blasts were recorded at two crude oil pipelines in Rivers State, with the first explosion affecting a section of the Trans-Niger Pipeline (TNP) in Bodo community in the Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The TNP is a federal transport line that carries crude to Nigeria’s Bonny terminal in Rivers State from where the Bonny Light grade is exported. The affected section was shut down by the pipeline management after a fire occurred, halting crude delivery to the export terminal, the police said.

The 180,000-barrels per day (bpd), 60km TNP was operated until 14 March by Shell’s subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), as reported by Argus Media. Current operator Renaissance Africa said it was responding to the incident.

The pipeline has faced ongoing issues with oil theft, vandalism, and sabotage. In response, Shell completely shut down the TNP from April to October 2022. Speaking on the resumption of “disturbing incidents” Tinubu stated that the state governor failed to take action to curtail them. As a result, Tinubu has suspended the Rivers State governor and deputy governor, placing the region under federal control with immediate effect.

A source from state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) told Argus that it was uncertain whether the incident at the TNP would impact oil production in the region. However, the pipeline attacks appear to have disrupted loadings at the Bonny terminal.

The last tanker to load at the terminal was the Almi Voyager, with approximately 550,000 barrels of crude received on March 14. Loading operations now seem to be on hold, as the next scheduled transfer of 475,000 barrels to NNPCL’s 210,000-bpd Port Harcourt refinery was halted because of the explosion.

Market sources are closely monitoring the situation, awaiting a potential force majeure declaration by Renaissance Africa. They also informed Argus that loadings at the export terminal were already delayed by up to two weeks before the disruption.

Another explosion occurred on Tuesday morning at a pipeline manifold in the Omwawriwa area of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area in Rivers State, as reported by The Punch. The blast affected a manifold connected to a federal pipeline that transports crude oil to Brass in Bayelsa State.

The media outlet could not confirm if the blast was related to threats issued by some militant groups to attack oil installations in response to the political crisis in Rivers State. However, community sources attributed it to illegal bunkering, showing a video of a huge fire in the forest.

The Rivers State Police Command confirmed the incident and said they arrested two suspects linked to it. Meanwhile, protests erupted as youths blocked the East-West Road in the area over the state’s ongoing political crisis.

“The Rivers State Police Command has commenced a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the fire. In connection with this, two individuals have been taken in for questioning as part of efforts to uncover any potential act of sabotage,’’ police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko said in a statement on March 18.