LIVING TO DIE? Nigerians Scoop Oil Again As Another Petrol Tanker Falls In Niger Days After Over 90 People Died in Similar Accident
Olufemi Orunsola
Barely 48 hours after a petrol tanker fell and caused an explosion that claimed close to a hundred lives, with 68 others injured, at the Dikko junction in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, another Tanker has fallen in the Bida Local Government Area of same State only for residents to rush to scoop fuel from the fallen tanker without considering the grave dangers lurking around their action.
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News gathered from eye witness accounts that the tanker fell opposite a filing station in a manner much similar to the recent Dikko junction accident but this time around, the tanker was empty of petrol products as at the time of the incident but loaded with cans of groundnut tied to the the top of the tanker fell off, spilling to the ground.
OTN News further gathered that residents of the area were sighted scooping the groundnut oil, throwing safety and health advisories caution to the wind.
Although sources told the press that handful of security men were seen stationed around the Yeso area (Bida city centre), where the tanker overturned, they could the barely managed to keep some of the rowdy youths away from scooping the oil from the overturned tanker.
OTN News recalls that the Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), had earlier confirmed to ait.live that the death toll from the Dikko junction accident had already climbed up to 98, with 69 others hospitalised.
The development, once again brings to the front burner the need to ask a salient question as to whether Nigerians are actually living to die on a daily basis, considering the extent to which they often go to take advantage of any situation to their benefits without taking cognizance of health hazards and potential dangers inherent in such moves.
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