In Nigeria's northwest region, over 140 fatalities occurred when an explosion transpired at a fuel tanker accident site where locals attempted to collect spilled fuel on Tuesday night near Majiya town in Jigawa State’s expressway incident zone.
Authoritative sources from the local police command disclosed that this deadly event was instigated when an overloaded vehicle skidded off control onto Kano-Hadejia highway close to Majiya, causing a subsequent explosion as people tried gathering spilled fuel with makeshift containers.
According to Shi’isu Adam from the Jigawa police command, this tragic incident was primarily due to unauthorized approach by onlookers despite warnings issued by officials; it further complicated when crowd pressure overpowered security efforts at managing traffic around accident site leading up to mass casualty.
The recurrence of such accidents is commonplace in Nigeria, notorious as one of the globe's largest oil producers and where road transportation prevails due to a deficiency or underused rail infrastructure along with airports system. As per data from National Oil Spill Detection & Response Agency (NOSDRA), hundreds such spills transpire annually across the nation, not limited only in oil-rich Niger delta areas but also elsewhere where fuel remains a highly sought after commodity due to elevated prices following subsidy removal at start of last year.
Fuel scarcity has escalated crisis among citizens as its price multiplied by three since beginning's of the previous year when government abolished petrol and diesel subsidies, thus intensifying a cost-of living emergency further worsened with fresh hikes in rates for this essential commodity.
Nonetheless, despite known risks involved, an increasing number find themselves drawn to disaster sites of tanker accidents hoping on fuel that they either use personally or trade off at local markets and hubs due to high demand spurred by limited supply situation in impoverished regions across Nigeria.
Wednesday saw the junior petroleum minister Heineken Lokpobiri directing an appropriate regulatory body towards immediate thorough examination into specific details surrounding this unfortunate incident, expressing empathy and wishes for a speedy recovery of those injured in these events: "Our thoughts are with them".
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