About 100 people including those who came to the site to buy illegally-refined petrol, lost their lives while many vehicles were razed on Friday, when explosion rocked the illegal refinery site at Abaezi forest in the Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State on Friday.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President said responsibility for the loss of lives and property must squarely lie with the sponsors of the illegal refinery, “who must all be caught and made to face justice.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the nation’s Armed Forces, security and intelligence agencies to intensify the clampdown on illegal refineries following the reported deaths of tens of people Friday night after an illegal refinery exploded at Abaezi forest in the Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State,” the statement read.
Buhari conveyed “the condolences and the full depth and range of the nation’s shock and trauma” to the families of the victims, the Ohaji Egbema community and the government and people of Imo State.
He urged community leaders, the police and the secret service to never allow the occurrence of the ugly incident in any part of the country again.