The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr Olugbenga Adepoju, has directed the Marine Police unit of the command to take over the investigation into the deaths of seven members of Kula Community who drowned at Robertkiri waterway while attempting to stop the removal of a crude oil storage vessel.
The directive was disclosed on Friday by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, IG Okoro, who received protesting members of the community in Port Harcourt on behalf of the commissioner.
The protesters had taken five recovered corpses of the victims to the residence of the Commissioner of Police to express their anger over the tragedy, with two other victims still missing at the time.
Okoro disclosed that the captain of the crude oil vessel allegedly involved in the incident had been arrested and was being held in police custody.
He said the commissioner was already aware of the incident and advised the protesters to take the recovered bodies to a mortuary and formally petition the police, the military and the Rivers State Government House.
A spokesperson for Kula Community, who said he witnessed the incident, alleged that an army officer compelled the captain of a tugboat to move despite the presence of several boats carrying protesting community members around the oil vessel.
According to him, community representatives were negotiating with the leader of the military team deployed to remove the vessel when another soldier allegedly broke away from the discussions, climbed onto a tugboat in front of the vessel and ordered its captain to move.
“One of the officers climbed up the tugboat and pointed his rifle at the tugboat captain, ordering him to move. As the tugboat moved, the rope between the tugboat and the vessel became taut, sprang up and overturned the boat,” the community spokesperson said.
He explained that another tugboat behind the vessel was pushing it forward when the oil vessel moved onto the capsized boat, resulting in the deaths of seven people.
“That was how we lost seven persons,” he said.
The spokesperson further alleged that the military team withdrew immediately after the incident, adding that some of the officers had pleaded that their names should not be mentioned in connection with the tragedy.
The incident followed a protracted dispute over a crude oil storage vessel, Anambra, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Belema Oil joint venture reportedly brought to Robertkiri waterway about two years ago.
According to the community, residents subsequently discovered that the vessel was leaking and raised concerns about the pollution of their environment.
While discussions were still ongoing among the parties over the matter, military gunboats were reportedly deployed to facilitate the removal of the vessel.
Community members mobilised and surrounded the vessel in an attempt to prevent its removal before the dispute was resolved.
The community spokesperson alleged that, during negotiations between the military team and community representatives, one of the officers left the discussions and ordered a tugboat captain to proceed with the operation.
The movement reportedly caused the rope connecting the tugboat to the oil vessel to become taut, overturning a boat carrying members of the community. The oil vessel subsequently moved onto the capsized boat, leaving seven people dead, according to the account.
The police investigation is expected to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and determine the responsibility of those involved.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no official response from the military to the allegations made by the community spokesperson.
