The Koko junction tragedy

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LAST week’s tragic incident, during which no fewer than 20 people lost their lives following a tanker explosion at Koko junction on the Warri-Benin highway in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, still rankles. It was a human-made disaster of epic proportions. The incident, which occurred in the early hours of the day, resulted from a spark from a faulty vehicle while the victims were busy scooping fuel that spilt from the tanker. The story is indeed typical of the tragic phenomenon that regularly unfolds across the country: the tanker laden with Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) had fallen and spilt its contents on the road, and the victims promptly rushed to the scene to scoop fuel, ignoring the warning by drivers and security men who had stormed the scene after they learnt of the incident. At the end of the dastardly episode, a pregnant woman, children and some elderly persons lay dead, many of them burnt beyond recognition. Sixteen vehicles, including the exploded tanker and three motorcycles, were destroyed in the inferno. Said an eyewitness: “We tried to prevent them but the youths threatened to beat us up telling us it is their community. They came in their numbers carrying all sorts of containers and when the explosion happened around 12:15 am, we all fled. You can see dead bodies on the ground. Some of the youth ran into the forest.”

Following the incident, the Delta State governor, Honourable Sheriff Oborevwori, deplored the poor state of federal roads, calling on the Federal Government to expedite the reconstruction of failed portions of the road. Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Festus Ahon, Oborevwori cautioned the people against taking the risk of attempting to scoop fuel from fallen tankers, adding that it is a time bomb waiting to explode. On his part, the Edo State governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, commiserated with the families of the victims, urging Nigerians to desist from attempting to scoop petrol whenever there is an accident involving tankers. On its part, the House of Representatives called for the immediate repair of the dilapidated Benin-Warri highway. This was a sequel to a motion of urgent public importance moved by Honourable Thomas Ereyitomi during plenary in Abuja.

Ereyitomi, who described the unfortunate loss of over 20 persons, with others sustaining different degrees of injuries, as worrisome, lamented that the unfortunate incident would further worsen the plight of road users who already had to cope with massive gridlocks occasioned by the dilapidated road, spending days on a journey that should ordinarily not exceed 45 minutes. The House observed a minute silence in honour of the victims and urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to immediately send relief materials to the survivors and pay the medical bills of those hospitalised. It also urged the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and the Federal Ministry of Works to expedite the rehabilitation of the Warri-Benin highway and other federal roads across the country, with a view to forestalling a recurrence. It further mandated its Committees on Emergency and Disaster Management, Works and Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance.

Indeed, this incident is, to say the very least, unfortunate. It recalls so many others in which human lives had been lost needlessly across the country. For one thing, even though accidents occur anywhere, the tragedy at Koko junction could have been prevented with good roads. While the practice of conveying fuel under the hot sun and without the authorities ensuring that accident response mechanisms are in place to take care of such incidents is dangerous, the poor state of federal and state roads across the country, as well as the failure of the government to ensure strict compliance with traffic rules, are major contributors to tanker fires. Besides, the fact is well known that many of the drivers use hard drugs and alcohol, and conduct themselves in the most despicable fashion on the roads, driving at breakneck speed. Things have to change, and very quickly too.

It is distressing that people being burnt following the melee that accompanies the indiscriminate scooping of fuel gushing from faulty tankers has become rather routine. In all cases, those involved think nothing of their own safety but are more concerned with scooping free petrol. Indeed, it has become almost impossible to get Nigerians to refrain from endangering their lives while trying to scoop fuel from fallen petrol tankers even when instances of such had caused unimaginable disasters in the past. Indeed, after the incident at Koko junction, people still engaged in the dangerous practice of scooping fuel after a tanker fell on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The government would therefore have to do much more than it has ever done in sensitising the citizenry to the dangers inherent in scooping spilt fuel under any circumstance. This would be in addition to putting in place stricter measures to guide the conduct of tanker drivers on the road to reduce the rate of accidents. Again, security agencies should be always ready, through prompt decisive action, to dissuade people from scooping free fuel when accidents occur. They did well in the current case, but they can always do better. Petrol is highly inflammable and therefore prone to sudden sparks and explosions. Tragedy beckons if people do not desist from scooping fuel from fallen tankers.

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