The Niger road explosion

IN a horrific accident last week, 48 persons were burnt beyond recognition on the Bida-Agaie-Lapai road in Niger State. The tragic incident, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday, September 8, when a truck heading to Lagos with over 50 persons and 50 cattle from Wudil, Kano State, collided with a petrol tanker, was just too ghastly. It was a terrible scene as the victims met a most calamitous end even as the blazing fire consumed everything within sight, including the cattle, cars, and nearby shops.  Abdullahi Baba-Arab, Director-General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), confirmed that all the initial 48 victims were burnt beyond recognition. After the incident, the death toll reportedly rose to 59, and the victims were buried in a mass grave in Agaie Local Government Area of the state.

Shocked and saddened by the incident, President Bola Tinubu directed the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to intensify efforts to enhance the safety and security of travellers and residents. Commiserating with the government and people of Niger State, the families of the dead and injured victims, and the owners of affected shops, the president commended the good-spirited Nigerians who mobilised to the incident scene to assist the victims. He also praised federal and state emergency agencies for their swift response, pledging continued support for the efforts aimed at providing relief to those affected. On his part, the Niger State governor, Mohammed Bago, expressed sadness over the loss of lives and property following the tanker explosion. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, the governor called on residents of the affected area to remain calm as he enjoined road users to always exercise caution and abide by road traffic regulations to safeguard lives and property. He said: “I am very sad and pained by this unfortunate incident and the colossal loss of lives and property. The state government, through the Niger State Emergency Management Agency and other relevant organisations, has been mobilised to the scene of the accident for rescue operations and other necessary actions.”

In its own reaction, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) linked the incident to the refusal of the driver of the truck conveying passengers and cows to heed the warning of one of his passengers. FRSC, in a statement, disclosed that one of the passengers in the truck alerted the driver of the vehicle to a budding fire from the approaching fuel tanker, but the driver responded that it was “mere tyre that was burning.” Sadly, according to the Sector Commander of the corps, Mr. Kumar Tsukwam, “On reaching the engulfed tanker, immediately the truck was also engulfed and consequently, two other vehicles were engulfed” in the fire. The situation was not helped by the fact that “the tanker from Lagos on transit to Kano loaded with fuel was on top speed, lost control, fell down, and (was) engulfed with fire.”

Last week’s fire incident in Niger State is indeed a tragedy of epic proportions. We sympathise with the government and people of Niger State and Kano State and the families and friends of the victims over the irreparable loss. Like most Nigerians, the victims were only after their daily bread when they met their gruesome end. The agony into which their families have been thrown can only be imagined. We pray and hope that they will have the fortitude to survive this terrible hour. Still, we cannot help noticing that this terrible accident was patently avoidable. From the truck driver who shrugged off warnings by his own passenger to the tanker driver who reportedly engaged in speeding even while his vehicle burn and the officialdom that typically fails to apply the rules as dictated by the statute books, there is no escaping the apportioning of blames. There is a nagging feeling thrown up by this incident, and it is the realisation that innocent Nigerians have been sacrificed to the god of lawlessness in this case. Yes, accidents are a feature of life, but there is no harm in enforcing transport rules, ensuring proper maintenance of road infrastructure, and prosecuting errant drivers.

Often, officialdom only issues statements dripping with empathy and then goes to sleep afterwards. The victims of the road disasters, if they are lucky to be alive at all, are made to pay a huge price for the failure of their state to enforce its own rules. It is almost as if human life has no value in this country. Ideally, the State ought to protect people even from themselves, to show them the right way and correct them when they take actions that could amount to self-harm. Nigerians familiar with the movement of cattle and people in trucks from the northern part of the country to the South are familiar with the ugly spectacle of people loaded in uncomfortable numbers in the trucks, with many of them hanging unto the body of the trucks by a thread, as it were. The drivers, carrying on as lords in their own world, are allowed to commit this crime, and it is not exactly certain that they are averse to the use of hard drugs. In a decent clime, drivers who conduct themselves like the ones under reference in this story get long jail terms, and that puts those minded to toe their perfidious path on notice regarding the resolve of the State to enforce its own rules. Here in Nigeria, beyond rhetoric, hardly any member of officialdom gives a damn about the sanctity of human lives. That is why the loss of lives on the road continues to be routine. Sad!

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