The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fuel tankers

  • Fuel tankers must be fitted with valves to prevent spillage, says DPR

    By Emeka Ugwuanyi

    To stem incessant spillage of fuel by tankers with the attendant consequences, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has advised that petrol tankers be fitted withvalves.

    The DPR also said it seemed better to return to the era of 33,000 litres maximum capacity for fuel tankers instead of the 45,000 litres  being conveyed by many trucks.

    Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Acting Director, Mr Rufai Shakur, stated this at the 13th edition of the Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL Africa Downstream) conference in Lagos with the theme Growth, Innovation and Technology.

    Shakur, represented by the DPR Zonal Operations Controller, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Kwara and Osun states, Mr Oluwole Akinyosoye, said the recommendations were the fallout from the agency’s yearly general meeting with its stakeholders.

    He said the DPR was concerned about the frequency of tanker accidents across Nigeria, stressing that this could be as a result of the high volume of fuel being conveyed by the trucks. According to him, apart from endangering lives and properties, over-laden tankers also endanger the lifespan of Nigerian roads.

    He said: “It was also recommended that all petrol tankers should be fitted with valves that would prevent spillage in event of a rollover. Think of it, if we had that, the recent inferno at Onitsha, arising from spillage from a petroleum taker would not have happened.

    “The 2018 incident on Otedola Bridge and many other fire incidents consequent on truck rollover might also have been averted.”

    He said it was safer and more efficient to use rail and pipelines for transporting of petroleum products. He noted that this was, however, being hampered by activities of vandals which needed to be tackled using modern technology.

    Shakur, while commending the organisers of the conference, said the DPR would continue to support initiatives that would improve operations in the downstream sector.

    Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream Sector), Hon. Alex Egbona, said the sector was very crucial to ordinary Nigerians due to its impact on their daily lives.

    He said the committee had charged the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, during his recent budget defence, to ensure that refineries would working optimally within the next four years.

    He said the lawmakers were planning to hold town hall meetings with critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta to find a lasting solution to oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

  • Govts urged to resuscitate Orile-Iganmu park for fuel tankers

    The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream, Joseph Iranola Akinlaja, has urged government at all levels as well as stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to urgently invest, resuscitate and develop the abandoned Orile parking space for petroleum tankers to reduce traffic gridlock in Apapa, Orile and Mile 2 corridor of Lagos State.

    The Federal lawmaker from Ondo State called for social service at this year’s edition of Lagos State Petroleum Marketers Safety Conference   (LSPMSC) at Federal Palace Hotel on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Akinlaja said lack of standard parking space in and around Orile-Iganmu, Apapa and Abule-Ado axis, where majority of private tank farms are located, caused the gridlock on Lagos roads.

    The lawmaker said this had taken a toll on the health of road users, reduced their lifespan and adversely affected their productivity as well as the economy.

    day, the tankers are back and they will continue to be there.

    “Until stakeholders, like government, depot owners, among others, come together and resuscitate that Orile tanker park, I don’t see any solution playing out. And if the park must be fixed, it must be in the form of a social service and not an avenue to make money.

    “If the fees are too much, the tanker divers might not be able to afford it. For example, if they charge them, may be N500, such a fee will be used to maintain, may be the toilets or to provide security or electricity and other services.

    “Most of the roads to the depots are not accessible to tankers because they are in a bad state. So, any truck going through Apapa Marine Bridge road will be struggling with smaller ones, and this may result in an accident. If our roads are in good condition, many of our trucks would not be damaged.”

  • Three suicide bombers die, three fuel tankers burnt in Borno attack

    Three suicide bombers die, three fuel tankers burnt in Borno attack

    Three suicide bombers were killed yesterday in a pre-dawn attack close to the  NNPC depot on Damboa Road, Maiduguri.

    Three fuel tankers were set ablaze in the attack , ahead of a planned visit by the United Nations Security Council to assess the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria.

    One of the bombers, an elderly woman, blew herself up beside a stationary tanker loaded with fuel around 3 a.m.

    With her were a boy and a girl who continued going on the road towards the fuel depot until they were challenged by soldiers who fired at them to avert what could have been a major attack on the fuel depot.

    “We are lucky. Today could have been another sad day for us in Maiduguri,” the state Police Commissioner Damian Chukwu told reporters at the scene.

    “They  (soldiers)  ordered them to stop, but they chose to run,” Gajibo said. “The male suicide bomber detonated his explosives near S. Baba (gas) Filling Station, while the girl was shot at by the military and ran under a parked truck loaded with petrol products which went up in flames when her explosives detonated”.

    Firefighters razed to the spot, opposite the  Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),to douse the fire.

    Spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abdulkadir Ibrahim, confirmed three deaths.

    He said: “The fire has been brought under control, while casualty evacuation has been concluded.

    “Three suicide bombers came into the city through Damboa around 3:00 am (0200 GMT) and they were spotted by civilians.

    “They quickly ran and hid under three petrol tankers, where one of them detonated his explosives, killing all of them.”

    The attack came  just days before a delegation of the U.N. Security Council is due  in Maiduguri as part of a four-nation tour of countries in the Lake Chad Basin devastated by the seven-year Boko Haram uprising that has killed more than 20,000.

    Yesterday, the Security Council members were in Cameroon for meetings with top officials and an encounter with the multinational force that has been fighting Boko Haram extremists.

     

  • Fuel tankers stall Apapa traffic

    Fuel tankers stall Apapa traffic

    A long column of cars. People trecking and sweating. Fuel tankers all over the place. This was the scene on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos yesterday.

    Some motorists abandoned their cars to join the long walk.

    Hard hit were workers who had to get to work early. They alighted from buses to trek as the road was jamparked.

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the arteries through which motorists could manoeuvre were blocked, leaving passengers and drivers in agony.

    A trader, Mrs Blessing Eze, said the road congestion disrupted her plans for the day.

    Mrs. Eze said: “It is not good at all; thousands of Lagosians have resorted to trekking because the roads are blocked. Our driver took all alternative routes but met all blocked.

    “I disembarked from the vehicle which I boarded at Surulere and took to trekking to Lagos Island, which you know is a good distance’’.

    She said she spent about 90 minutes trekking from Surelere to Costain, stressing that she does not know when she would get to her shop.

    A graduate, Miss Victoria Mbamara, described the gridlock as bad and boring.

    “I started trekking from Surulere to Lagos, this is very bad. I do not know what could have caused this pain on all of us.

    “Our leaders should be proactive in arresting a situation like this that is capable to subjecting citizens to hardship. It’s bad,’’ Mbamara said.

    A businessman, Wale Ola, said: “This horrible traffic started yesterday; it is disheartening and highly discouraging’’.

    Another businessman, Christopher Ogucha, said: “This kind of traffic makes Lagos a boring place to live in.

    “I don’t know the cause, but the government should have proffered solutions; it is affecting us and our businesses,’’ Ogucha said.

    A civil servant, Mrs. Stella Obiora, described the traffic as terrible and painful.

    “It is terrible. If this is allowed to continue, wahala de niye, meaning trouble has come. It is quite bad and can earn one a query in the office,” Obiora said.

    Motorists are complaining about government’s inability to find a lasting solution to the problem.

    A motorist, who simply identified himself as Peter, said: “It’s a lot of stress to the good people of Lagos who left their homes to search for what to eat.

    “We have been trapped in this traffic and merry-go-round a lot without getting to our destination. It is quite painful that our leaders are not proactive.

    A driver, Sakiru Gbada said: “It is serious. I have spent about three hours on my way to Lagos Island.

    “The old woman I am taking to Lagos for medical examination is tired of the traffic situation.’’

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), say they are on top of the situation.

    FRSC Lagos Sector Commander, Hyginus Omeje said police, LASTMA and the Corps are cooperating to arrest the situation.

    “We have been working endlessly since we noticed the gridlock; we have tried to restrict all the tankers that trooped into Lagos to load fuel from all other states to one lane.

    “It has really been difficult because they are the ones causing the congestion and it is difficult to tow them, especially when they are loaded to avoid fire.

    “This is always the aftermath of the fuel scarcity as many tankers come to lift petroleum products from tank farms that do not have loading bay,’’ he said.

    According to Omeje, with the concentration of tank farms in Apapa, there should be checks on farms without loading bays before the issuance of certificates.

    He urged the Federal Government to open other tank farms in Ijebu-Ode (Ogun State) and Benin (Edo) as part of the solutions to the perennial Apapa gridlock. LASTMA General Manager, Babatunde Edu told NAN that his men worked all through the night to restrict the tankers to a single lane.

    “I have not had sleep since yesterday (Wednesday), I have been here working with my men to ensure that the problem is resolved and people can enter Lagos.

    “Tankers and other articulated vehicles entering or leaving Apapa should not lock down Lagos, they should obey traffic managers’ directive by restricting their operations to a single lane.

    “We are working assiduously to ensure Ikorodu road is gridlock-free, and that no tanker is allowed on Eko Bridge except on Oshodi/Mile 2 road,’’ he said.

    Edu blamed the gridlock on the bad roads along the axis, saying though the Federal Ministry of Works worked on a portion of the road the unfinished part was a problem.

    According to him, for such experience not to recur, the issues of infrastructure decay and lingering fuel scarcity have to be addressed.

    He urged motorists without business in Apapa to avoid the road.

  • FAAN gets 48-hour ultimatum on fuel tankers’ relocation

    The Federal Government on Friday issued a 48- hour ultimatum to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to relocate fuel tankers out of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, citing concern over safety and security.

    To ensure compliance, all security agencies attached to the MMIA, including State Security Services, Nigerian Air Force, and others have been mobilised to ensure the fuel tankers are moved out of the airport before Wednesday, as they constitute an infraction to terminal operations.

    Briefing journalists on Friday, the Director of Aviation Safety, FAAN, Mr. Wendel Ogunedo , said there is no going back on the relocation of the fuel tankers, many of which have broken down and could be a vulnerable target by people with sinister motives.

    He said FAAN acting on the orders of the presidency would not like to see the fuel tankers along the way into the international terminal, as any spillage of inflammable liquid including aviation fuel could do huge damage to installations and houses around the airport.