Rivers Pipeline Explosion: Houses Razed in Aleto, Eleme

Residents say the Nigeria Gas Company pipeline along Old Bori Road leaked for three weeks before Thursday’s blast. The Eleme council leader had already petitioned NOSDRA

At least 20 people were injured and about 50 houses razed after a gas pipeline explosion ripped through Aleto community in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State on Thursday evening, 15 October 2026.

The blast occurred around 5 p.m. along Old Bori Road and was traced to a ruptured pipeline reportedly owned by the Nigeria Gas Company. Victims — many of them passers-by and traders working along the road — were rushed to nearby hospitals. Market stalls, a mechanic workshop and vehicles parked inside it were among properties destroyed.

An eyewitness said the pipeline had been leaking for roughly three weeks before it exploded. Community leaders, he said, raised the alarm repeatedly but no adequate preventive measure followed.

The Leader of the Eleme Legislative Council, Daniel Chuma, who visited the scene, confirmed that the council had written to the company and petitioned the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), the Rivers State Ministry of Environment — with the police copied — for urgent intervention and a joint investigation into the leak.

We asked for a joint investigation. We don’t know what they did before they left. Today we were called to an explosion at the same pipeline that has destroyed houses, cars and caused many casualties,” Chuma said. He added that no representative of the company had visited the scene at the time he spoke.

Residents cordoned off the area with caution tape as safety fears persisted.

The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), through its Executive Director Fyneface Fyneface, urged the state and federal governments to intervene, and called on NOSDRA to identify the facility operator and carry out a Joint Investigation Visit.

YEAC said it had not independently confirmed any fatality and that the cause of the explosion remained unverified, while demanding that relevant provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 be applied.

The incident renews scrutiny of gas infrastructure safety in Nigeria’s oil-bearing communities — where leaks reported in advance too often become disasters after the fact.