YET ANOTHER TANKER EXPLOSION

There should be public education on the dangers of scooping petrol

Vehicles parked along the road, food items and other valuables estimated at hundreds of millions of naira, were destroyed last Thursday following a petrol tanker explosion along the Benin-Lagos Expressway at Oluku market. The explosion was reportedly triggered by a petrol-laden tanker that fell on the expressway, with fire spreading rapidly into the market. Following the accident, desperate scavengers invaded the scene to scoop fuel, thus making the work of the security and fire service personnel difficult.

We recall that following a similar tanker explosion which claimed over 84 lives and caused extensive injuries in Suleja, Niger State in January last year, President Bola Tinubu dispatched a delegation to condole with the people. During the visit to the Emir’s palace, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, described the incident as one in a series of devastating tanker explosions that have claimed over 265 lives within a period of four months (September 2024 to January 2025). He added that the president had constituted a high-powered investigation committee comprising the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, NEMA, SON, IPMAN, tanker drivers’ union, and other relevant stakeholders to “unravel the remote and immediate causes of the explosion and make recommendations to prevent future occurrences.”

So, what has become of that report? In the wake of recent calamities, there were also conversations about the nightmare that fuel tanker drivers have become in the country, but nothing has been done to tackle the menace, despite suggestions by relevant stakeholders. That the number of fatalities arising from petrol tanker explosions on our roads is getting increasingly worrying should indeed raise serious concerns. That people would be so desperate to rush to scoop fuel after such accidents should also compel a public enlightenment campaign. Perhaps because of the number of fatalities from this latest explosion, the conversation has resumed but if past experiences are any guide, nothing is likely to happen in what has become a vicious cycle of avoidable tragedies.

 In four separate incidents within a spate of one week in 2015, no fewer than 100 people were killed with properties worth hundreds of millions of Naira destroyed. Some 85 people also died in Onitsha, Anambra State, when a petrol laden-tanker lost control‎ and rammed into a public motor park. Several buildings, vehicles and properties worth millions of Naira were consumed by the fire. Scores of others were left with different degrees of burns. In 2020, which witnessed the highest number of these accidents, there were 1,531 petrol tanker crashes resulting in 535 deaths and 1,142 injuries. That is aside the billions of Naira that are lost to such fire incidents and the survivors who bear scars for the rest of their lives.

 To identify and address the factors responsible for these incessant tanker crashes and explosions, the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) last year launched a stakeholders’ initiative. Institutions involved include the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and other key players. Issues identified as causes of these accidents included “drivers’ mental alertness and attitude” and that some trucks load “up to 66,000 litres, far exceeding safe limits”. 

 We hope that the federal government will put concrete measures in place to end these avoidable fuel tanker explosions that continue to take lives unnecessarily. While we commiserate with all the victims, the frequency of this tragic occurrence should compel a more serious action than establishing committees just to be seen as doing something.