Jesse Fire Disaster: 28 Years On, Community Still Cries for Justice

Twenty-eight years after the October 17, 1998 explosion in Atiwor, in the Jesse Kingdom, residents commemorated the deaths of about 1,082 people and renewed their calls for justice. A leak in an NNPC-owned 16-inch pipeline carrying petrol from Warri to the Kaduna refinery drew residents hoping to collect fuel; an ensuing explosion engulfed them in flames. The community blames the ageing, poorly maintained pipeline, while the NNPC and military government attributed the incident to oil vandals without an audited investigation. At the memorial, Judith Nwachukwu denounced alleged corporate and government negligence, and community leaders called for a national monument and a memorial museum.