Reps Move To Avert Impending Deaths In Niger

The House of Representatives has taken steps to urgently address the incessant parking of petroleum articulated vehicles in Bida, Niger State, to avert impending dangers that could result in more deaths.
This followed the adoption of a motion brought under matters of urgent public importance moved by the member representing Bida/Gbako/Katcha Federal Constituency of Niger State, Hon. Saidu Musa Abdullahi at plenary yesterday.

Moving the motion, Abdullahi said residents and youth groups in Bida had written to the speaker of the House of Representatives through his office to express their reservations over the indiscriminate parking of petroleum and articulated vehicles along major roads in the town, which resulted in severe safety and environmental risks.

He said the recent tragic tanker explosion at Diko Junction in Niger State, which claimed numerous lives and destroyed properties, highlighted the grave danger posed by improperly parked tankers and the urgent need for regulatory enforcement to prevent similar occurrences.

The lawmaker said associations, including Nupe Excel, Landzun Youth Development Association, Bida 70s, and Eid Youth Association Bida, had raised alarm over the dangers posed by these parked tankers, such as an increase in road accidents, environmental hazards from flammable substances, traffic congestion, and growing security concerns.

Abdullahi noted that the Niger State government, in a bid to proffer lasting solution and mitigate the danger posed by these articulated vehicles, had, in spite of endless needs competing for its scarce resources, embarked on the construction of a 44 kilometres dual carriage ring road – bypass with complimentary infrastructures including a trailer transit park around Bida.

He admitted that the abandonment of the Mokwa-Makera-Tegina-Birnin Gwari – Kaduna route due to activities of bandits, kidnappers and the deteriorating nature of the road, which was once adjudged as the most economically viable road in West Africa has resulted in more traffic on the Bida-Agaie-Lapai- Lambata-Suleja route.

The deputy chairman of the House Committee on Finance expressed concern that “the slow pace of the reconstruction of the Bida-Suleja Road, in spite of an alternative funding source through the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, has contributed hugely to the indiscriminate parking of tankers along major roads on the route, thereby worsening traffic congestion and increasing the risk of accidents.

“Due to this hazardous situation, a tragic incident recently occurred in Bida where a tanker crushed a nursing mother to death while her husband suffered the loss of his legs, emphasising the need to act urgently and decisively.

“Failure to act promptly can result in continuous threat to lives and properties given the volatile nature of petroleum products and the high volume of vehicular and pedestrian movement along the affected road.

“The continued presence of these tankers without proper regulatory enforcement hampers economic activities and threatens public order in Bida.”