President Muhammadu Buhari has mourned the victims of an explosion that rocked an illegal refinery in Imo State and also ordered an intensified clampdown on illegal refining sites across the country.

President Buhari described the incident as a catastrophe and national disaster.

About 100 people were killed on Friday after a fire engulfed an illegal crude oil refining site in the Abaezi forest, in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his media aide, Garba Shehu, Buhari said the 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.

To forestall a reoccurrence of the incident, the President ordered the armed forces, security, and intelligence agencies to intensify the clampdown on illegal refineries.

Meanwhile, the Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has commiserated with the families of affected victims.

He, however, explained that running an illegal refinery in the area amounted to economic sabotage to the state and the nation and a criminal act that all should desist from.