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The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority have hinted at plans to consider a review of existing safety rules to avoid a reoccurrence of the Niger Tanker explosion that claimed the lives of 86 persons and injured 55 others.
The Authority Chief Executive of the regulatory agency, Farouk Ahmed, said this during a visit to the scene of the tanker explosion on Sunday.
Farouk, who extended the authority’s condolences to the families of the deceased and the government of Niger State, cautioned Nigerians against rushing to scenes of tanker incidents to avoid accidents that could claim lives and property.
Ahmed was represented by the Executive Director, Health, Safety, Environment and Community of the organisation, Mustapha Lamorde.
While wishing those who were injured quick recovery, Ahmed explained that although there were already standard operating procedures and guidelines that should be adhered to in the sector, those rules may need to be given a second look.
Ahmed expressed his hopes for a speedy recovery for the injured while noting that although there are existing standard operating procedures and guidelines in the sector, they may need to be reconsidered.
He said, “I think the most important thing is awareness. People should be aware of the danger that this poses, especially when there’s an accident like that, they need to be aware of the dangers of explosions. We need to create public awareness for people to avoid coming close in contact with the vicinity when accidents like this happen.
“And we have standard operating procedures, and we have guidelines. We have required training within the sector that encourages safety awareness. So we are going to review that, and we are going to collaborate with key stakeholders.
“We have the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners here, we have NUPENG, we have IPMAN, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, Federal Road Safety Corps, and other key stakeholders to make sure that we push this public awareness and also collaborate so that this doesn’t happen again,” he noted.
He also stressed the need for a detailed report on the incident to determine measures to prevent such accidents from happening in the future.
“From what we learned, there was an accident, and from the accident, there was a spill, and people were scooping fuel, and this led to the incident that caused the loss of many lives yesterday (Saturday),” he added.
The National President, NARTO, Yusuf Othman, in his remarks, said that accidents were usually a function of the environment, mechanical and human factors, arguing that despite the sensitisation embarked upon by government, people were not taking the awareness seriously.
“But what I will advise, in an area where there is a lot of activities of petroleum happening, I will advise that we create awareness through the traditional institutions. The village heads and the religious leaders should be involved in the awareness.
“And beyond that, I also want to advise the government of Niger State to position a fire station here. If there was a fire station here, this incident would have been arrested. This is because of the high level of trucking activities going on here. Because we are all aware that 100 per cent of petroleum products are conveyed by truck in this country.
“So, in an area where there is high trucking activity, just like this, I will advise that awareness should be intensified through the traditional institutions,” he added.
Represented by the Executive Secretary, NARTO, Aloga Ogbogo, Othman pointed out that it was not the time to apportion blame because the nation was already mourning, stressing that everything should be done to ensure that such occurrences were minimized to the barest.
Also, the Deputy National Chairman, Malut Abubakar, recalled that the association had earlier written to the government on the bad state of the roads.
“So, our main problem is that the government should come into this by providing a very good road. If not, because of the road situation, this thing wouldn’t have happened. Because the last time we did it in Kaduna, we wrote to the government of Kaduna State for them to call the road contractors to Kaduna Bypass.
“And there were a lot of incidences that took place there, where the government intervened by calling the attention of the contractors to come and level the place. And they did it,” he stressed.
The PUNCH reports that the team also visited Yar’Adua Memorial Hospital, where some of the injured were rushed. At the hospital, the Head of Hospital Services, Dr Musa Lafaruwa, gave an update on the situation of the wounded.
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