From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The number of deaths from the illegal oil refinery explosion at Abaezi, Ohaji/Egbema in Imo State has increased to 150.
Acting Head of Operations, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Imo-Abia office, Ifeanyi Nnaji, made the disclosure to newsmen in Owerri, yesterday.
Nnaji said five corpses were discovered at the Orashi River, while five others died at the hospitals where they were taken for treatment.
Meanwhile, the Igbo National Council (INC) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, to visit the site of the illegal oil refinery at Abaezi, Ohaji/Egbema.
The President General of the group, Chilos Godsent, in a statement, yesterday, frowned at the delay by both to visit the site for an on-the-spot-assessment. He equally urged the president to declare a state of emergency on unemployment which, he felt, led to the illegal activities in the forest.
He said: “The INC is very shocked that seventy hours after the ugly incident, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, and President Muhammadu Buhari has not physically visited the deadly site to condole with the Abaezi people, Ohaji Egbema People, Imo people, the Igbo Nation and Nigeria for this irreplaceable generational loss.
“Consequent upon the above, the Igbo National Council (INC), therefore, calls on the Imo State governor and President Buhari to immediately visit the site and, also, declare a state of emergency on youth employment in the South East and South South geopolitical regions, in other to forestall the recurrence of this satanic incident.
“INC, therefore, demands the immediate arrest and prosecution of the owners of the site, inclusive of all the security agents who were protecting and aiding the operation of such an illegal refinery site,” Godsent stated.
Godsent also called for a census by both the federal and Imo State governments, to enable it to know the proper number of victims at the explosion site, and advised the youths of the area to desist from illegal oil mining.