The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tanker

  • 20 vehicles burnt as tanker explodes in Festac

    20 vehicles burnt as tanker explodes in Festac

    No fewer than 20 vehicles and four commercial motorcycles were on Wednesday afternoon burnt when a tanker laden with petrol fell and spilled its content on the Festac Link Bridge in Awuwo Odofin LGA of Lagos State.

    The fire started at noon and raged for about an hour. Fire fighters arrived at the scene about 30 minutes later but did not have enough water to quench the fire.

    A witness, Mr Olufemi Popoola, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the tanker, coming from Apple Junction and going to FESTAC Town was ascending the bridge but suddenly rolled back and fell.

    The impact of the fall separated the tank from the body, resulting in an explosion, according to Popoola.

    He said that some residents and passers-by attacked the fire with buckets of water to no avail.

    Popoola , who lives in FESTAC, said that the fire from the tanker spilled over to nearby vehicles , forcing their occupants to run, abandoning them.

    Tanker

    Read Also: 20 burnt to death in Imo auto accident 

    “The fire then spilled into a car shop on the foot of the bridge, burning some of the cars, while the attendants quickly drove out some.

    “Furniture items, bags and boxes displayed for sale on the foot of the bridge all burnt,’’ he told NAN.

    NAN reports that the vehicles burnt included a 2010 Toyota Highlander and a commercial bus.

    The fire caused gridlock on the bridge and in the adjoining roads. A crowd of affected persons and sympathisers gathered at the scene to lament the situation.

    One of the owners of the burnt motorcycles, Mr Akuko Okoli, said that he narrowly escaped death. It was not clear at the time of the report whether any life was lost to the fire.

  • Breaking: Many feared trapped as tanker explodes in Lagos

    Breaking: Many feared trapped as tanker explodes in Lagos

    Many persons have been injured and several others trapped after a petrol tanker exploded in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.

    Details later

  • Tanker drivers: we’re not party to strike

    Oil tanker drivers have dissociated themselves from any strike that will unleash hardship on Nigerians.

    The drivers, acting under the aegis of Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), are responsible for transporting fuel from one part of the country to the other.

    Its National President, Salimon Oladiti, said members of the organisation were not aware of the decision by the oil workers to begin strike nationwide.

    He described the planned strike as a ruse, as nobody has  informed his association on the issue.

    In tele phone interview at the weekend, Oladiti said the decision by the Petroleum and National Gas Workers Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to go on strike to press home their demand for payment of over N800billion debts owed oil marketers by the Federal Government, was not to his knowledge.

    He said: “We are hearing about the decision by PENGASSAN and NUPENG to embark on strike, just like any other person. But I can tell you confidently that the proposed strike action is fake. There is no iota of truth on the proposed strike action. To the best of my knowledge, any strike in which tanker drivers are not involved is bound to fail.’’

    He said neither PENGASSAN nor NUPENG has discussed the decision to embark on strike with PTD, as part of efforts to force the government to pay the debt owed Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MPMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) and Independent Petroleum Products Importers (IPPIS).

    Marketers, after their Joint National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Tuesday, issued a communique on the matter. The communique signed by its Legal Adviser, Patrick Etim, said in the last months, the unions had been inundated by officials of various labour units operating in tank farms and depots across the country that most importers and marketing companies were owing their members backlog of salaries now up to nine months.

    “The most disturbing aspect of this is that many members are redundant as their employers are not able to operate their bank account for their operations with a potential massive job losses of our members in the oil and gas sector and other workers in the banking sector, due to the growing size of this non-performing loans extended to oil marketers with a catastrophic banking system collapse looming in the country,’’ the communique read.

  • Tanker drivers warn of fuel scarcity in Lagos

    The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) of National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (NUPENG), yesterday warned of artificial scarcity of petroleum products, if the Lagos State Government implements its ban of articulated and petroleum tankers from Lagos roads.

    The government, on Friday, ordered all tankers and trailers to – for the meantime – keep off the roads and stop at Ojodu Berger, the outskirts of the state, to enable it solve the traffic congestion in the metropolis, as a result of tankers parking at Apapa, which had stretched up to Ikorodu Road.

    PTD National Chairman Comrade Salimon Oladiti while expressing shock at the “sudden  blanket order by the state government to stop all trucks and petroleum tankers from entering the state,” said his members are not responsible for the intractable traffic in the state.

    In a statement by his Public Relations Officer Comrade Atanda Adebayo, Oladiti said the traffic logjams are caused by the activities of articulated trailer drivers as they access all the ports in the Apapa and Tin Can area.

    He advised that any action that may affect the activities of petroleum tanker drivers should be discussed at “a roundtable because of the sensitive nature of the service they render to the public.”

    Oladiti said the union is ready at all times to “cooperate with the government on issues affecting the masses and the economy of the state.”

    According to him, the gridlock at Apapa is not caused by members of the petroleum tankers but by articulated truck drivers going into various wharfs in Apapa and Tin Can Ports.

    Oladiti, who said the bad roads affects his members by obstructing them from accessing depots to load petroleum products, noted that many of his members from all over the country, often spend close to two weeks under harsh conditions before getting to depots to load petroleum products.

    He urged the governor to among other places, visit Coconut Bus Stop on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, “which has become a death trap.” He assured of the readiness of his members to assist the government to address the traffic logjam at Apapa.

  • Tanker fire: APC condemns Fayose

    Tanker fire: APC condemns Fayose

    •Govt: his action shows love

    The Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned Governor Ayo Fayose’s appearance on the scene of a fire last Sunday, which razed a petrol station and 25 shops in Ijigbo, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The party said the governor carrying a bucket of water to put out the fire was an act of pretence and hypocrisy.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun,  APC alleged that Fayose deliberately created conditions that rendered the Fire Service ineffective.

    Olatunbosun accused the governor of turning the incident into “a comic show” by shouting and rolling up his sleeves “in apparent showmanship in his usual way of deceiving the public that he is a man of the people”.

    But Commissioner for Information Lanre Ogunsuyi said the opposition’s criticism of Fayose’s rescue efforts showed that the APC is anti-people.

    He said the action was an indication that Fayose is a man of the people who is  ready to be with them in any situation.

    The commissioner accused the party of playing politics with the incident, which he described as “callous and unfortunate”.

    Ogunsuyi said APC did not assist the Fire Service during its four years in office.

    He claimed the agency did not have a functional vehicle when Fayose came to power in 2014.

    The commissioner added: “We built the Fire Service office in 2004 but they didn’t do anything for them.

    “The action has dignified the governor and showed that he is with the people. “How can APC be playing politics with the incident? This shows the type of people they are.”

    But Olatunbosun said: “Governor Fayose is an unconscionable pretender by trying to quench a raging inferno with a bucket of water after rendering the State Fire Services useless.

    “This is at best showmanship which Fayose is best known for.

    “Fayose should be ashamed of his conduct as he is telling the world that Ekiti is so backward such that it is a bucket of water that is used to put out a raging inferno.

    “It is the height of irresponsibility and sheer pretence for Fayose to turn himself to an emergency fire fighter with a bucket of water after he sacked trained fire fighters and paramedics recruited by his predecessor, former Governor Kayode Fayemi.

    “The governor also abandoned the modern fire fighting equipment purchased by the last APC administration.

    “Fayemi recruited 122 firemen and paramedics.”

    Arguing that there were no losses through fires during Fayemi’s administration, APC spokesman said Fayose had turned Ekiti State to “an enclave of anguish” by refusing to pay workers salaries, imposition of unbearable taxes on petty traders and school children.

    “He also cancelled Fayemi’s social security scheme for the elderly but later re-introduced the same programme “as a compensation for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyalists, who are beneficiaries”.

  • FRSC enforces tanker drivers’ ban from night journeys

    FRSC enforces tanker drivers’ ban from night journeys

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) yesterday reiterated its ban on petroleum tanker drivers from night journeys today.

    FRSC Corps Marshal Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi said in Lagos that any truck found contravening the order would be impounded.

    According to him, the ban is to promote safe petroleum haulage.

    “No tanker should be seen on the road at night. We need to find solutions to incessant crashes of tankers on the road.

    “Beneficial as petroleum sector is to the nation, safe haulage remains FRSC concern.

    “There is a problem and we have solutions to them, no more night journeys for petroleum products, from Monday, December 19, enough is enough.

    “The effects of crashes are quite unquantifiable on human life, environment and economy,” Oyeyemi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    The FRSC boss noted that a crash involving a tanker laden with petrol will lose N50 million; the cost of its contents and vehicle.

    Oyeyemi said many night crashes  had caused severe damage to people and the community.

    He said besides the lives lost, number of houses, shops, farm and other investment were engulfed in flames.

    The corps marshal added that such incident portrayed the nation in bad light.

    Oyeyemi said the dimension and scale of devastation caused by these crashes were huge on the society.

    According to him, there are laws and policies to tackle the problem, if every stakeholder complied.

    He said the National Road Traffic Regulations 2013, Road Transport Safety Standardisation Scheme and Safe-to Load-Projects were part of the efforts to tackle the problem.

    Oyeyemi advised tanker drivers to stop deliberate violation, neglect and non-compliance to basic road traffic regulation.

    He appealed to them to stop intimidating other road users, especially, those who drive light weight vehicles by exposing them to risk.

    The FRSC boss said the mandatory Speed Limiting Device installation was a good initiative at reducing speed-related crashes.

    “It is also essential to install trackers in vehicles on the fleet to obtain real time information about drivers and driving behaviour, which are paramount for successful operations.’’

    “Also drivers involved in delivery and distribution of petroleum products in the country must be properly trained and certified.”

  • Tanker drivers’ association bans night movement

    the National Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ Association (PTD) has banned it members from embarking on night journeys, especially during the yuletide.

    This, according to the National Chairman Comrade Salimon Oladiti, is because of the unsafe roads. He also urged members to exercise extreme caution, saying “it is better to be late than be the late.”

    The association also attributed the incessant oil tankers explosions and carnage on the roads to poor state of the roads and lack of efficient policy formulation.

    The National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Atanda Adebayo, spoke at the end of a three-day Basic Skills Development Training Workshop for Units Elected Officers in Lagos Zone, held at Apapa.

    His words: “Most of the causes of tanker explosions are due majorly to bad roads and government’s unfavorable policy.

    “The reason why Apapa is congested with tankers is because there is a large concentration of oil depots, as well as seaports, in the area. Every tanker driver and containerised vehicle come to Lagos to load products and this inadvertently put so much pressure on the road which leads to infrastructural degradation. “Many portions of the roads are bad; the tankers cannot ply the road easily. Also the parking lot at Orile-Iganmu is overstretched.”

    Adebayo also attributed the current traffic gridlock on the Mile-2 Apapa Oshodi Expressway, to the continued infrastructural decay. He stressed the need for the immediate intervention of governments at all levels to resolve the gridlock permanently.

    The Secretary explained that the training is aimed at capacity building of members, particularly the leaders, in regards to modern challenges facing security, safety and their relationship with the public.

  • One dead in Ibadan as fuel tanker bursts into flames

    One dead in Ibadan as fuel tanker bursts into flames

    •30 shops, 16 vehicles razed

    One person died yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, when a fuel-laden tanker burst into flames on the Lagos-Ibadan highway.

    Thirty shops, four trailers and 12 commercial vehicles were burnt at Oremeji-Agugu in Ona-Ara Local Government Area.

    Some commuters were injured.

    The incident, which occurred at 6:30 am, was said to have been caused by a Jigawa-bound truck, registered as KZR 418 XA, loaded with wheat.

    The Nation gathered that the truck’s driver lost control while trying to overtake another truck carrying pasta and noodles.

    The front section of the Jigawa-bound truck, eyewitnesses said, came off, ramming into a NIPCO fuel tanker parked on the roadside.

    The fuel tanker burst into flames when its content spilled on the road.

    Petrol attendants at Fakinlayo Filling Station close to the scene shut the station.

    Owners of the razed shops broke down in tears.

    Nurudeen Alimi, driver of a trailer registered JJJ 363 XB, owned by a logistics company, relived his escape.

    He said: “I parked my truck by the roadside to check a faulty engine. Then I saw a wheat-laden trailer trying to overtake another trailer.

    “The wheat-laden trailer lost control and broke into two. The head rammed into a NIPCO tanker parked at a distance behind my truck and there was a bang.

    “Before I knew what was going on, the content of the fuel tanker started spilling on the road. I fled the scene, because I knew what would happen next.

    “Just before I ran a few metres, the tanker went up in flames. From where I stood, I could see passengers rushing down and scampering in various directions.

    “Nobody died; but some of them were injured as they attempted to flee.”

    A roadside trader, who simply identified herself as Mrs Amope, wept uncontrollable where her wooden shop stood before the inferno.

    “Where will I start? I just bought goods to stock up my shop with some money I borrowed.”

    She was led away from the scene by sympathisers.

    A lotto operator, Wale Olalere, whose kiosk was razed, said he was in bed when he got calls, informing him of the incident.

    “When I got calls, I got up and came here. As you can see, I cannot recognise the spot where I had my kiosk. Everything I left in the kiosk, including my lotto machine, has been burnt. I don’t know what to do, because this is where I get my daily bread.”

    A resident of Oremeji, Alhaji Kehinde Abass, said: “We were in the house when we heard shouts of fire from  our houses and we came out and saw a huge fire. “But we were helpless and ran for our safety too. If the truck had carried petrol, the situation would have been worse.”

    Fire fighters from Oyo State Fire Service, who moved to the scene at 7am, were prevented from working by hoodlums looting pasta and noodles. The fire fighters got to work after intervention by a team of soldiers, riot policemen and Civil Defence Corps.

    Adeleke Isiaka, who led the fire team, said: “We responded to the distress call and we got here on time. But 20 minutes after, we were prevented by hoodlums looting on the scene. We were able to put out the inferno within a few hours. I can confirm there was no life lost.

    For 10 hours, travellers were stranded on the highway. Vehicles coming from Lagos diverted to the opposite lane, causing a gridlock. Officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had a hectic time controlling traffic.

    FRSC’s Oluyole Unit Commander Mrs. Titilayo Olayiwola said investigation was on to ascertain the cause of the incident.

    Police spokesman Adekunle Ajisebutu said: “Immediately we got the news, we contacted the Fire Service. But for the quick intervention of the firemen, the havoc would have be worse. We drafted policemen to the scene and the report we got is that 10 vehicles and several shops were burnt.”

    The driver of the Jigawa-bound trailer was said to have fled the scene.

  • One dead, 18 vehicles burnt in Ibadan diesel tanker accident

    One dead, 18 vehicles burnt in Ibadan diesel tanker accident

    No fewer than 18 vehicles, 15 shops were burnt, and one person confirmed dead when a truck loaded with biscuit and wheat collided with another truck ferrying diesel product from Lagos to Ibadan at Oremeji junction, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ibadan on Sunday.

    It was gathered that the  content of the tanker was spilled on the road as people ran for safety.

    Among the vehicles burnt were five articulated vehicles, two Nissan Micra used for taxi, two commercial buses and other vehicles.

    An eyewitnesses told The Nation that he driver of the wheat truck with number plate JGW 418 XA lost control of the vehicle around 7am and ran into the petrol tanker which skidded off the road and caught fire as it fell.

    The accident, however, caused a serious gridlock on the highway and a combined team of police, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) controlled the traffic.

    An on spot assessment at the scene of incident, the situation led to a standstill for more than five hours on the both side of the highway.

    Many commuters either sought alternative routes to their destinations or disembarked from their journeys as they were stranded at the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway for hours.

  • One killed, 15 vehicles razed in Zaria tanker fire

    The Police in Kaduna State have confirmed the death of one person in a tanker fire in Zaria. The fire also razed a police station and 15 vehicles.

    The incident happened Saturday night at Danmagaji, when the driver lost control in an attempt to avoid a pothole.

    He crushed a motorcyclist. The ensuing fire razed the police station and vehicles.

    Commissioner of Police Agyole Abeh confirmed the figure to reporters after visiting the scene yesterday.

    “The incident is quite unfortunate but we have to give glory to God. The inferno would have consumed more lives, most especially as Danmagaji usually experiences heavy traffic, and people patronise this station well.

    “However, everything in the station is completely burnt, as you can see the structure, nothing is left besides the wall,” Abeh said.

    He solicited the intervention of the government, traditional and community leaders, in rebuilding the police station.