Nigeria in trauma after Imo refinery deaths: President Buhari

SMA NEWS – ABUJA
Nigeria’s president has said the country is in “shock and trauma” following the deaths of at least 100 people from an explosion at an illegal oil refinery.

President Muhammadu Buhari described the incident in Imo state, southern Nigeria, as a “catastrophe and a national disaster”.

Many victims were burnt beyond recognition.

The police are now looking for the owner of the illegal refinery.

The damage to fishing and farming caused by the oil industry over the decades and the failure to share the oil wealth has led some to find other ways to make money.

Illegal refining is attractive as in parts of the oil-rich Niger Delta it is seen as being relatively easy to pull off, despite efforts to halt the practice.

Dozens of people were thought to have been working at the refining plants when they were caught in the huge fire.

The death toll has risen as emergency workers go through the scene. Ifeanyi Nnaji of the National Emergency Management Agency told BBC Igbo that the number killed now stood at 109.