Within a spate of weeks, fuel tanker accidents have ripped through the country with hundreds of lives lost. The recurring incidents call for a more drastic action to curtail this seeming embarrassing national scenario.
In Niger and Oyo States, tanker accidents were recorded recently with hundreds of lives lost. A Kano-bound truck laden with fuel collided with another truck loaded with cattle and headed for Lagos in Agaie, Niger State engulfed several vehicles and passersby.
The menace portrays the nation as a people unable to learn from the past, judging from the fact that the menace has lingered for decades.
It has become one devastating turn after the other and we are yet not getting it right with precautionary and preventive measures given the recurring scenarios.
At the moment, Jigawa State is in the news over petrol tanker explosion which led to the loss of over 140 lives and no fewer than 100 persons injured. It is sad that more of the victims were caught in the web as they went on to scoop fuel from the fallen tanker as it erupted in flames.
It is sad that apart from the over 140 persons who died in the inferno,100 others were injured and have been taken to hospitals , many of them in critical condition.
The fuel tanker was heading to Nguru in Yobe State from Kano when the driver lost control of the vehicle, AljazirahNigeria gathered.
While driver of the ill-fated petrol tanker was unhurt, has been taken into custody, we, however, appreciate the prompt condolence messages to the families of the victims by Vice-President Kashim Shettima and the leadership of the National Assembly even as they have called for a comprehensive review of fuel transportation safety protocols nationwide.
Besides, we are worried that as the clear-up operation was under way in Jigawa, there was another fuel tanker accident in Ibafo, a town in Ogun State
AljazirahNigeria commiserates with the entire Jigawa State given the magnitude of the destructions and loss of lives, urges families to take solace in the Almighty who is the great comforter.
We appreciate the renewed calls for improved safety protocols for movement of petroleum products across the country. This is imperative against the trend of unending fatal fuel tanker accidents.
We call on the Federal Government to initiate measures with a view to compelling relevant authorities to check excesses of tanker drivers and a comprehensive national distribution network to curtail road transportation of petroleum products so as to end incessant loss of lives through petrol tankers explosion.
