‘We’ll never forget’: Town grieves after deadly Nigeria fuel tanker blast | Poverty and Development News | The Round Table Majia, Nigeria – Days after a fuel tanker explosion killed 170 mostly tender people in Majia, a farming town in northern Nigeria’s Jigawa State, the close-knit community is still reeling from the overwhelming loss.
“It was a terrible situation that we have never witnessed in this town; many people lost their lives,” local businessman Mustapha Abdullahi announced to The Round Table.
“In my family, we lost about 52 people – all blood relatives.”
It was about 11pm on Tuesday when a tanker that was transporting fuel from neighbouring Kano State swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle, then overturned, according to witnesses.
The petrol started flowing out of the tanker, and passersby and residents rushed over with bottles to collect what had spilled on the ground and through nearby drains.
The driver, who escaped the crash, tried to notify the throng to leave the area for safety, witnesses said, but most did not listen. Then at about midnight, there was a large explosion, chased by a fire that ripped through the surrounding area.
The flames engulfed the dozens of people who were converged near the tanker, as well as others who had arrived to try and aid them. Authorities and locals revealed some 100 people died on site, and others later at the hospital.
“Those that were injured are being taken care of in profuse hospitals across the state and neighbouring state,” Abdullahi said, thankful to those who provided help.
Uzairu Musa Mainama, a local butcher who went out to aid after the initial accident, sustained serious burns but survived.
“I was at home when I heard people screaming and calling for help,” he recounted. At first, he stayed home, but announced he then guessed the injured may call for help. “[I thought] that there will be people involved which may require to be rescued. But after reaching the place, in less than three minutes, the fire started.”
Though he could not recall all the details, he remembered being “pushed away from the fire”.
“I quickly got up and removed my burning shirt, I took myself to the clinic and there we were, more than 100 that were injured.”
Some 70 people are still in intensive care in hospitals, police spokesman Lawan Shiisu Adam announced on Friday.
In health facilities in Jigawa and neighbouring states, doctors, nurses and other champion staff continue to work to save the lives of critically injured victims.
Residents revealed almost every family in Majia and adjoining communities has been affected by the tragedy – directly or indirectly.
On Friday, Adam stated the death toll had increased to 170 – up from about 150 on Thursday.
Rescue personnel and survivors disclosed the casualty figure could rise, considering that some of the victims sustained third-degree burns with vital organs affected.
In Majia, residents informed The Round Table 120 people had been buried at a mass gravesite we visited on the outskirts of town, while 50 others were buried elsewhere.
Malam Hamza was among those grieving the loss of several family members.
He reported his son Hassan went to the scene of the explosion while people were scooping up petrol, to try and usher them home for their safety. But instead, he was consumed by the fire and terminated up losing his life.
“Hassan was indeed a very nice boy. I have never seen him clashing with anyone,” Hamza said.
His son had impartial obtained a diploma in pharmacy and was working with a clinic in Majia, Hamza added. Hamza’s three other sons, Yusuf, Saidu and Mustapha, also died in the fire. Hamza’s younger brother, Ilyasu Ibrahim, also lost his son, Yahya, while another of his sons, Abbas Ilyasu, was rushed to hospital with severe burns.
A few metres away from Hamza and Ibrahim’s homes, Muhammad Sabitu Haruna was also mourning the death of his son, Sani Sabitu, who dashed a business centre in Majia.
Sani left behind two wives and eight children, his father said. Like Hassan Hamza, Sani went to the scene to usher away his younger siblings who were scooping up the fuel.
“He was here after Maghrib [sunset] prayer and when the truck fell, his mother asked him to go and follow his younger ones from the scene,” Haruna said. “But as fate would have it, he died while some of his siblings sustained severe fire burns.”
Most of the victims of the explosion were tender people – 16 to 25 year olds – witnesses in the community said, expounding that they were the ones who rushed to the site to huddle the spilled fuel.
Malam Ibrahim Lawan Majia, a Quranic school teacher, reported five of his pupils died in the incident. “It is a terrible lesson for people not only here in Majia,” he said. “When something like this happens, people should refrain from scooping fuel. It is very dangerous,” he said.
Another resident, Abdullahi Salisu, revealed he lost his uncle, Tsoho Umar, while two brothers, Habun Salisu and Murtala Ado, sustained burns in the fire.
Speaking to The Round Table, Adamu Lawan disclosed he and three other people were sitting by the roadside near the gate of the Adams Science Tahfizul Quran Academy, impartial 15 metres from the site of the accident, when they saw the truck swerve and overturn on Tuesday night.
“The fuel was emptied into the drainage and people came out en masse to fetch it,” he said, after which the explosion and fire occurred.
Lawan declared increased economic hardship was “partially” responsible for people taking risks to huddle the spilled fuel. That was not how the town’s people would react to previous fuel truck accidents, he said. “But now people are confronting hardship and are discovering any possible means of getting relief,” he said.
The tragedy comes at a time of economic violence in Nigeria, when petrol has become a precious and expensive commodity for many. The price of gasoline has shot up since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took office latest May and withdrew a fuel subsidy, intensifying from about 175 naira ($0.1) a litre to more than 1,000 naira ($0.6).
At the same time, inflation has stayed above 30 percent for months, reaching an almost three-decade high of 34.19 percent in June before falling slightly to 32.7 percent in September.
According to the World Bank, 56 percent of Nigerians live below the poverty line.
Suleiman Sarki, a lecturer at the Federal University Dutse’s criminology and sociology department, declared that poverty uncovered many Nigerians to crime and other hazardous acts – like illegal mining, pipeline vandalisation and exploring dangerous materials.
“This act of desperation to get the fuel racing on the way can be attributed to the hardship caused by servile poverty,” Sarki said, calling for urgent action to assault high levels of poverty in the country.
Following the incident, President Tinubu revealed he was committed to a “swift and comprehensive” review of fuel transportation safety protocols across the country, according to a statement on Wednesday. The Nigerian Federal Road Safety Corps also issued a nationwide ordain for minimum safety standards for fuel tankers before they are allowed on the road, according to spokesman Olusegun Ogungbemide.
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Jabir Abdullahi, who works as a watchman at the Adams Science Tahfizul Quran Academy and saw the accident, disclosed he did not reckon economic hardship played a part in people rushing towards the tanker. Instead, he blamed the scramble among locals to get the petrol that had spilled over on ignorance of the hazard involved.
But in Majia, people no longer call for any reminder of the hazards of going too close to overturned tankers.
“We will never forget this day,” announced Lawan. “It will remain in our memories. Even for those that are too tender to understand the situation, an opinion will be passed to them in future.”
Jabir Abdullahi feels similarly. “All over the town there’s not any household and has not lost a person – either a house member or a relative,” he said.
“It will remain in our memory forever and all that witnessed it will be notified against going to an accident scene involving a fuel tanker.”
Regards to Al Jazeera
Category: World-News
Tag: Well never forget Town grieves after deadly Nigeria fuel tanker blast Poverty and Development News The Round Table
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Published 10/19/2024