–486 die in under 3yrs

–Ban will destroy N300bn investment, NARTO

By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja

Following the increasing number of deaths resulting from petrol tanker accidents, the Federal Government is considering placing a ban on trucks with 60,000 litres capacity.

The government in a proposal to stakeholders wants tankers restricted to a maximum of 45,000 litres.

Speaking at a stakeholders engagement on the recurrence of road tanker accidents, the Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Engr Farouk Ahmed said in less than three years about 486 fatalities have been recorded as a result of tankers accidents.

Ahmed disclosed this year alone, five accidents have been recorded with 121 fatalities and 79 injuries, adding that in 2024, 11 accidents were recorded with 341 deaths and 124 injuries.

In 2023, two accidents were recorded resulting 24 deaths and five injuries.

Ahmed who described the rising number of accidents and fatalities as unacceptable, said urgent steps were needed to ensure safety in the transportation of petroleum products across the country.

“We strongly believe that the incidents are avoidable and unnecessary because over the years, we have emplaced all necessary measures to prevent and mitigate their occurrence”.

He noted that some of the measures put place to prevent such accidents include: Minimum Industry Safety Training for Downstream Operators (MISTDO), which include training and retraining of drivers, motor boys, and all personnel involved in downstream operations.

“Installation of anti-spill safety valves on all petroleum product tanker trucks; Implementation of safe-to-load initiatives. Colour coding and branding of all tank trucks.
Spot checks by FRSC on fatigued drivers and those under influence.

“Broadcast of post-crash emergency numbers and first responders to cordon-off accident sites.
Enlightenment and sensitization of public about the dangers of scooping the volatile hydrocarbons at accident sites”.

But pushing back on possible ban on 60,000 litres capacity tankers, the President, National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, Alhaji Yusuf Othman said such a move would lead to loss of over N300 billion investment.

Othman explained that there are currently about 2,000 trucks with 60,000 litres capacity involved in the transportation of petroleum products with each costing over N150 million.

“We are saddened by these occurrences and we believe measures need to be taken to avoid future occurrences. But, in doing that we need to avoid been sentimental in taken certain decisions so that we don’t throw the baby with the bathwater.

“I want to remind everybody here that transporters are investors and these investments are huge. Any truck that loads 60,000 litres must be a truck with strong and sound engine at an average cost of N150 million. By our estimation, we have 2,000 of them. We are talking about N300 billion investments some of which were financed by banks and other lenders”, he added.

He expressed concern that besides the poor state of the Nigerian roads to has made the operating environment hostile, there no enough spaces provided for tanker drivers to rest along the routes.

He harped on the importance of checking the health of the drivers to ensure that they were in good mental state to ply the roads.

Speaking to journalists, the Secretary General, Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Comrade Afolabi Oluwole said the union has spend a lot of money in ensuring the good health of the tanker drivers.