By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
President Muhammadu Buhari is mourning those who died in the fatal tanker explosion which occurred at the Felele axis of Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, on Wednesday morning.
At least 23 persons were confirmed dead and many others injured following. There are fears that the death toll will increase as eyewitnesses said over 50 people may have been killed in the blaze, including some residents who were waiting to board commercial vehicles by the roadside.
Over five vehicles were completely burnt in the road crash and eyewitnesses say some of the victims include students of Kogi Polytechnic.
Confirming the casualty figure earlier, the sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Kogi State, Idris Fika said at least 23 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage.
The accident occurred after a truck laden with Premium Motor Spirit lost control following a brake failure and rammed into five other oncoming vehicles.
In a series of tweets on his official twitter handle, @GarShehu, Wednesday evening, presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, said “President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that the death of 23 people, as confirmed by the Federal Road Safety Commission, “represents another disturbing and saddening incident in the litany of tragedies that have befallen our country.”
The tweets further said, “Reacting to the petroleum tanker explosion earlier this Wednesday in Lokoja, the Kogi State Capital which claimed the lives of travellers, school children, bystanders, including some students of Kogi State Polytechnic, President Buhari said that ‘I am seriously worried about the frequency of these unfortunate and large scale tragedies in the country which cause needless deaths.’
Shehu quoted the president as saying, “These frequent incidents that result in loss of lives and property are a national scandal caused by our indifference to safety standards.”
He explained that “many accidents are preventable if proper proactive and precautionary measures are put in place or properly observed as routine policies.”
The President regretted that “ours is a country where we move on whenever tragedies occur instead of taking preventive safety measures to forestall future calamities.”
President Buhari called on the county’s transport authorities, traffic and road management agencies as well as law enforcement officials to sit up and enforce safety standards with more seriousness, adding that “refusal to do the right thing can cause potential tragic problems that harm innocent people.”
According to Buhari, “Nigeria is not having a shortage of laws and regulations, but our problem is lack of zeal to enforce those laws and regulations for the sake of public safety.”
He condoled with Kogi State government and the families of the victims of the tragedy.