By Caleb Ishaya, Abuja
One week after a truck carrying petrol from Kano to Nguru in Yobe State, exploded in Majia, located in the Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State, the state Governor, Umar Namadi, yesterday said that death toll in the tanker explosion has so far risen to 181 while 80 injured persons are in critical conditions in hospitals.
Gov Namadi, who was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to brief President Bola Tinubu on the situation, also said that a total of 210 families had member affected by the inferno.
Speaking to State House correspondents, the Governor said, “I came here to brief Mr President about what happened to us, the tragic incident that happened in Jigawa State which claimed a lot of lives.
“We felt it is important to come and brief Mr President on what we are doing as a government and also to thank him for sending a delegation immediately this incident happened.
“Of course, the state government has taken the medical bill of all the affected people. We have done a lot of intervention to the families, to ensure that they continue their livelihood, and also Mr President has promised to intervene and assist the victims”.
The governor said, the State government has already “established a high powered committee under the chairmanship of a retired DIG to investigate the remote causes of that incident and then advise the government on what to do.
“You should also remember that Mr President has given a directive immediately to the Corps Marshal that he should investigate this matter, and he should come up with a permanent solution to this problem in this country”.
AljazirahNigeria reports that residents of Majia town were scooping petrol from an ill-fated tanker when it exploded resulting in about 200 deaths.
Meanwhile, the state has already established a high powered committee under the chairmanship of a retired DIG to investigate the incident and then advise the state government on the next line of action, Namadi said.
