Niger: Another Tragedy Averted as Tanker Overturns

•Ex-gov visits site, seeks increased education of citizenry, death toll rises to 100 

•NEMA gives relief materials

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Another tragedy was Monday averted in Niger State, barely 48 days after the disastrous incident in Dikko, when a tanker, although ladened with groundnut oil, overturned in Bida town.

Despite the huge loss of lives and property recorded in the Dikko incident in which the death toll has now been officially put at 100, several youths rushed to the collapsed tanker to scoop for its content – the same action that caused the loss of valuable lives and property.

Eyewitnesses told THISDAY that a handful of security men around the Yeso area (Bida city centre), where the tanker overturned, managed to keep some of the youths away from the overturned tanker.

The eyewitness said the place, where the tanker overturned was between two petrol filling station, which could have led to a serious disaster.

The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr Kumar Tsukwan, confirmed the incident, describing it as “one accident too many.”

Tsukwan blamed the accident on “our bad roads and overloading of vehicles playing the road”

He explained that his men in conjunction with other security operatives were able to stop people from scooping the content of the overturned tanker, which he confirmed was conveying groundnut oil.

The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA)  Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah, also confirmed the story.

Meanwhile, a former Niger State governor and the senator representing Niger North Senatorial District, Abubakar Sani Bello, has visited the site of last Saturday’s Petrol Tanker explosion and called for increased enlightenment of the populace on the dangers of inflammable materials.

This was as the death toll from the disaster had reached 100, while the National Emergency Management Agency, hasreleased relief materials to relations of the victims.

Bello, who is  Senate Committee Chairman on Foreign Affairs, expressed his deepest sympathies to the victims’ families just as he also described   the incident as “an avoidable tragedy”

Also, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency NSEMA, has now put the death toll in the disaster at 100 with some of the deceased dieing in the hospitals where they were admitted.

The Director General of the Agency, Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah, in an update said so far, 69 people had been confirmed injured in the accident while 20 shops were burnt.

The Director General said the Gurara Local Government has been directed to immediately carryout a clean-up of the explosion site in order to make the area habitable saying that the Agency will monitor compliance with the directive

The National Emergency Management Agency NEMA also on Monday delivered  relief materials which included  200 bags, each of both rice and maize, 50 cartons of ground nut oil, 20 bags of salt, 20 cartons of Maggi, 20 cartons of tomatoes paste and medications to relations of the deceased

Mrs Zubaida Umar  Director-General of NEMA, delivered the items saying it was a way of further showing empathy with the relations of the deceased by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.