October 19, (THEWILL) – As of the weekend, 50 persons have been officially confirmed dead, and 70 others are receiving treatment in four local hospitals following the explosion of a petrol tanker at Oluku along the Benin-Lagos Expressway in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.
Apart from persons, the explosion destroyed buildings, shops, vehicles and others.
The tanker, which was loaded with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), reportedly fell earlier on Thursday and spilt its contents around the busy Oluku market area. People who gathered around the fallen tanker were said to have started scooping the spilt petrol before the tanker suddenly burst into flames at about 1 pm, triggering a massive inferno.
Recall that sometime in January 2025, a fuel tanker carrying roughly 60,000 litres of petrol overturned at Dikko junction, near Suleja, Niger State. Like in the current case, people rejected the plea from security agencies to scoop fuel. The ensuing inferno consumed over 100 persons, vehicles, shops and houses, rendering many homeless and destitute.
The fire rapidly spread through the surrounding area, consuming shops and buildings erected around the drainage channels and affecting vehicles in the vicinity.
Several people caught in the inferno reportedly sustained serious burns, with eyewitnesses saying some victims were burnt beyond recognition.
Since the Dikko junction disaster, the government and relevant agencies have designed measures to prevent and stop recurrence. Key measures involved presidential directives and awareness campaigns whereby President Bola Tinubu directed the National Orientation Agency, NOA, to launch a nationwide campaign on the dangers to life and the environment of scooping fuel from fallen tankers. Other measures include safety protocols and transport reviews along major highways, especially for heavy-duty vehicles, and the involvement of personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps in the implementation of the “safe load” policy, whereby Corps officers visit depots and fuel facilities to verify that tankers meet safety standards before clearing them to transport fuel. They also check moving tankers on the highways for compliance. Then come the first emergency responders with agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), their equivalents in the states, and the Federal Fire Service.
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The death toll from the recent Edo tragedy is yet to be fully known, as the state of the injured victims is still being assessed. Medical personnel are said to be working round the clock to prevent further fatalities and provide urgent treatment to those who suffered serious burns.
The Edo State Fire Service also deployed personnel to the scene to battle the inferno and prevent it from spreading further, while security personnel and other emergency responders participated in rescue and evacuation efforts.
However, with the over one-year-old presidential directive on the matter, can the government and agencies confidently say the measures are working to prevent another similar disaster in the near future? Very unlikely, and unfortunately, indicting.
This sorry pass is conveyed in Governor Monday Okpebholo’s lamentation during a visit to the scene of the disaster, promising to help victims rebuild their lives and businesses.
He said, “Before the explosion, people were scooping fuel. The state and federal governments have spent a lot of money on advertisements to educate the public to stay away from such disasters, but people won’t listen.”
Okpebholo also faulted the decision of the tanker owner to bring in another vehicle to evacuate the fuel without adequate safety measures in place, noting that such actions expose residents to avoidable danger.
