Cawthorne Channel Fire: Corpses of 3 Suspected Victims Washed Ashore

Barely five days after the fire was put off, corpses of three suspected victims of recent fire outbreak at Cawthorne Channel 1 in Rivers State have been washed ashore.

The development is contrary to claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) and the operators of the facility, that there were no casualties in the incident, which affected two of its flow stations.

It was learnt that the bodies which have scars of fire burns were discovered on Monday, February 24, 2025 at about 2pm on the shores of a fishing settlement behind Biekiri in the Cawthorne Channel axis of Iloamatoru Community in Bonny local government area of the state.

LEADERSHIP further learnt that surveillance team in the area was alerted to the discovery of two bodies, but on arrival found only one and were told that the other had been carried by the waves to another area.

The search and rescue team took the first body into custody and went in search of the second one, where two bodies were discovered to make it three.

Speaking on the development, immediate-past Chairman of Iloamatoru Community Surveillance Committee, Daniel Pollyn, who expressed regret over the incident, urged families of staff of NNPCL, OML 18 Energy, Sahara Group and Eroton Exploration & Production Company Limited working around Cawthorne Channel 1 to check with their loved ones.

Pollyn said: “We shall take the corpses to the Police to do the needful but families of NNPCL, OML 18, Sahara and Eroton that have people working in that area should check with their loved ones.

“They should check with the Police to identify the body if it is their relative. I think they should not take the NNPCL claim seriously, though we won’t interfere with that.

“On our part, all our community members who are working there have been accounted for but we can’t say the same for the company workers. Let their families ask the company questions if their relatives have not come home since that Wednesday.”