…says govt will enforce necessary laws to check reckless tanker drivers
By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State has commiserated with victims of last weekend’s tanker explosion at Diko junction, along the busy Abuja-Kaduna highway which left three persons dead, eight injured while 19 cars and 35 shops were also razed down.
The governor describing the unfortunate incident as heartbreaking seeing lives of innocent people lost due to recklessness of an individual however directed the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) to take full inventory of the accident.
He decried the activities of articulated vehicles plying the state, particular petrol tanker and trailer drivers who park illegally by the roadside and warned of the state government’s preparedness to clamp down such illegalities.
According to Governor Bello, “It is quite unfortunate that the accident happened. As a government we are pained to see the lives of our people being cut short, especially as a result of avoidable mistakes or recklessness of tanker, trailer and other articulated vehicle drivers”.
Governor Sani Bello who spoke through the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mallam Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, nevertheless warned against indiscriminate parking along major highways, especially along the ever busy Diko-Abuja road due to inherent danger to humans.
His words:
“We will ensure full enforcement of all necessary laws with regards to illegal motor parks and other activities along the highways. I have therefore directed that all illegal motor parks where the accident took place and markets along highways across the state be cleared forthwith”.
Meanwhile, Governor Bello has directed the State Emergency Management Agency to take detailed assessment of the accident with a view to ascertaining the level of damages done and the number of people affected.
Director-General of NSEMA, Mr. Ibrahim Inga, who led other officials of the agency to the scene of the accident, said that the immediate financial assistance to the survivors of the explosion was to enable them undergo treatment as most of them suffered various degrees of burns.