In the past few months, close to 500 lives have been lost to tanker explosions. One of such gruesome tragedies occurred last October in Majia town in Jigawa state during which over 150 people were incinerated and several others injured as a result of an explosion while scooping fuel spilled by a fallen tanker. And penultimate Saturday, a similar disaster took place in Dikko in Niger state in which more than 70 fuel scoopers were burnt to death, while several others suffered fatal injuries.

About a week before the Dikko disaster, no fewer than 150 lives were lost when scoopers converged on a fallen fuel tanker in Delta state. While the nation was still grieving over the avoidable loss of human lives in the three incidents, the news came that another tanker laden with petrol fell while careering down a sloppy portion of the Ugwu Onyema highway in Udi local government area of Enugu state at the weekend, bursting into flames. The ensuing conflagration consumed about 15 lives, including those trapped in their vehicles. The incident in Udi did not afford scoopers any opportunity to come close before the tanker exploded. The number of casualties would have been higher.

The incidents of tanker explosions on our highways have become rampant in recent times. The disaster list is endless but a few instances will suffice here:

July 12, 2012: About 100 people were killed, while about 50 suffered severe burns when a petrol tanker crashed in Ahoada in Port Harcourt, Rivers state spilling its deadly content on the road. Scoopers besieged the scene to fetch the petrol but were eventually caught up in the ensuing fireball.

April 5, 2013: Thirty-six lives were consumed and several properties damaged when a fuel tanker driver lost control of the vehicle and ploughed through a crowd on the Benin-Ore highway in Ondo state before bursting into flames.

June 28, 2018: More than nine people were killed and 67 vehicles conflagrated when a tanker suffered brake failure, and finally exploded on the notorious Otedola Bridge in Lagos.

September 23, 2020: Twenty-three were lives lost when a tanker first crushed an entire family in a car before bursting into flames in Lokoja, Kogi state.

November 10, 2022: Eighteen people were caught up in a tanker fire out of which 12 were burnt beyond recognition, while others sustained varying degrees of injuries when a gasoline-laden vehicle had a break failure and crashed in Ofu, Kogi state, igniting fire.

April 27, 2023: Thirteen persons lost their lives, 10 hospitalised, while 28 shops, eight vehicles, six tricycles and two motorcycles were burnt, when a tanker head disengaged, leading to a fall that ignited a fireball that razed down several properties along Bauchi Road Junction in Jos.

July 23, 2023: Fifteen people were killed when a tanker fell and spilled the liquid on the road in Ore, Ondo state. Onlookers, oblivious of the danger, scampered all over the place for containers and rat-raced to the scene to scoop the product during which an explosion occurred.

Many factors have been adduced for this tragic state of affairs. Notable among them are carelessness and fatigue from covering long distances on the part of tanker drivers, faulty or aging vehicles as well as over-speeding. There is also the practice of saddling the vehicles with higher capacity of load they are built for. Besides, majority of commercial drivers are ill-trained, illiterate and chronic drug users whose sense of judgement is warped and they could easily make wrong decisions consequently leading to the tragic incidents daily unfolding before us.

Also, some tanker drivers are of the belief that they are superior to other road users because of the size of their vehicles and as such, they should be accorded space respect on the highways that are even in a deplorable state. Drivers with such mentality are in the habit of occupying the better lanes while expecting oncoming (smaller) vehicles to veer into the bush or risk head-on collisions! Some drivers are also known to surrender their seats to their apprentices when they are tired rather take a rest.

The gateway to the disasters we face today was opened the moment our rail transportation system collapsed, leaving our poorly maintained roads at the mercy of heavy-duty vehicles that pound them day and night.

In the bygone years petroleum products were conveyed by railroads to different locations across the country where they were discharged in depots for distribution to neighbouring towns.

It is gratifying to note that the federal government has stepped in by setting up a committee to look into the worrisome phenomenon with a view to stem the tide. The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) whose mandate is to ensure safety and sanity on our highways is perhaps facing the most daunting challenges posed by these demons behind the wheels and scoopers who want to cash in on high cost of petrol to make cool money.

The corps should ensure safety protocols at the points of loading fuel in addition to putting in place a mechanism to determine roadworthiness of fuel tankers as well as making installation of speed limiters compulsory. It should also work in cahoots with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to sensitise Nigerians on the danger of scooping fuel from fallen tankers. The campaign should be laced with visuals of victims of tanker explosions to drive the message home. The sensitisation should be as aggressive as the urge that propels Nigerians to hug the palpable danger rather than flee from it. (Blueprint Editorial)