On Saturday, a truck carrying petrol exploded along the Enugu-Onitsha Motorway, killing at least eleven people.
According to reports, the tanker’s brakes failed, it rolled over, and its contents spilt out, exploding.
During an on-the-spot evaluation, Peter Mbah, the governor of Enugu State, expressed his sorrow over the disaster. In addition to providing medical care to those hurt, he said the state would take action to prevent similar incidents in the future by enforcing traffic laws and repairing the damaged portion of the federal highway.
Mbah expressed sympathy to the relatives of the deceased and injured victims, calling the disaster regrettable.
He also requested that Franklin Agbakoba, the state’s Sector Commander for the Federal Road Safety Commission, and Obi Ozor, the state commissioner for transportation, make sure that all tankers transporting combustible materials in the state have anti-spill locks installed to stop spillage in the event of an accident.
“The investigation is still in its early phases. Law enforcement agencies, including the police, are investigating. To determine the actual reason for the accident, we want to get to the bottom of this,” he stated.
According to the FRSC Sector Commander for Enugu, who briefed the governor on some of the initial investigations, the fuel tanker’s brake failure caused the tanker leak.
He stated that 11 people died on the spot and that those who were hurt on the roads were taken to the hospital right away to receive treatment.
Scooping fuel from a downed tanker in Niger State on Saturday, January 18, 2025, resulted in at least 86 fatalities and 55 injuries.
In the Agbor region of Delta State, a tanker loaded with petrol lost control and caught fire earlier in January 2025, killing at least five people.
A fuel tanker explosion in Jigawa State in October 2024 claimed over 170 lives and injured several others.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is going through its worst economic crisis in a generation, and tanker explosions happened there at a time when petrol has become a valuable commodity.
Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu entered office in May 2023, the price of petrol has more than fivefold increased, making it difficult for many people to obtain it.
For months, the rate of inflation has been above 30 per cent. In June, it hit a nearly three-decade high of almost 34 per cent, but in September, it dropped to 32.7%.
In 2018, 40 per cent of Nigerians lived below the poverty line; now, 56 per cent do so, up from that percentage in 2018.
In September 2024, a truck carrying passengers and animals collided with a petrol tanker in northwest Niger state, resulting in the deaths of at least 59 persons.
