The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) has questioned whether recurring deaths linked to pipeline vandalism and illegal petroleum activities have become a government strategy for discouraging such acts instead of protecting critical oil infrastructure.
YEAC-Nigeria Executive Director, Dr Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, raised the concern while speaking to our correspondent in Port Harcourt on Monday, September 21, 2026.
He cited previous incidents, including deaths at an illegal refinery site in Rumuekpe in 2021, over 100 deaths linked to illegal refining in the Rivers-Imo border area in 2022, and more than 35 deaths, including pregnant women, at Ibaa, Emohua Local Government Area, in October 2023.
Fyneface said over 74 people had allegedly died in Rivers State in September 2026 alone from illegal petroleum tapping, while another 37 reportedly died in alleged illegal mining activities in Niger State.
He said the deaths raised concerns about government responses to illegal resource exploitation.
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“The death of citizens involved in illegal activities, which the authorities and facility owners failed to prevent by protecting their facilities and pipelines, must not become a new tool for natural resource governance, product security and pipeline protection in Nigeria,” he said.
Fyneface also alleged that YEAC-Nigeria volunteers and leaders had received threats over the organisation’s advocacy and reporting in Okrika and other communities.
He raised concerns about alleged restrictions on the organisation’s activities around the Indorama facility, saying they could affect environmental monitoring.
He said YEAC-Nigeria had proposed alternatives, including the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI), the proposed Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI), and modular refineries.
According to him, YEAC-Nigeria proposed PACORDI in 2020 to integrate artisanal refiners into a regulated system while promoting environmental standards and alternative livelihoods.
He questioned why the government had not fully adopted such initiatives to address the conditions driving citizens into illegal mining, crude oil theft and artisanal refining.
The YEAC-Nigeria director also called for greater accountability by oil companies and government agencies in protecting pipelines and hazardous facilities.
He urged the Federal Government to prioritise economic inclusion, alternative livelihoods and regulated participation in the oil, gas and mining sectors.
“Government must be participatory, with listening ears and effective feedback mechanisms because its ownership is of the people, its process of attaining power and functioning is by the people, and the purpose of its existence is for the benefit and service to the people,” he said.
Fyneface called for stronger environmental governance and sustainable alternatives for people involved in illegal resource exploitation, stressing that all citizens’ lives must be valued.
“Government policy or policy failures must not graduate from citizens dying for oil to the state of systematically killing citizens by looking away,” he said.
