Again, Another Tanker Falls In Niger

Barely a week after the Essa Tanker Explosion that claimed over 40 lives, another Tanker fell yesterday in the Lapai local government area of Niger state.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the Tanker fell in the Takalafiya community of the Local Government Area, where some of the villagers defied warnings to scoop from the tanker’s contents.

It was learnt that the fuel tanker carrying Diesel came from Lagos, heading to Kano, and fell on the community, causing apprehension.

A villager, Tanko Aliyu, told LEADERSHIP that “the incident occurred around 8:00 a.m., it prompted the swift intervention of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBUL) Fire Service and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to avert a potential fire outbreak”.

Aliyu said that members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Lapai

Chapter, also mobilised to the scene to assist in managing the situation.

It was further learnt that the villagers scooped from the spilt diesel despite the state government’s warning that no villager should try to scoop from any tanker accident.

It was learnt that the tanker driver immediately made arrangements to transfer the remaining contents to another tanker.

When contacted, the officials of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullah Baba Arah, could not be reached immediately. Still, a senior official, who preferred anonymity, confirmed that the incident was not fatal because the content was diesel.