Lagos tanker fire: Ambode summons drivers, stakeholders to meeting June 8

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State have summoned Petroleum Products Tanker Drivers’ Union and stakeholders to an emergency meeting on Monday, June 8.
The meeting, Ambode said, would address the incessant petrol tanker-induced fires in the state.
The governor gave the directive on Saturday during a visit to the scene of an early morning petrol tanker fire at Idimu area of the state.
A similar tanker fire occurred on Tuesday at Iyana-Ipaja area of the state which left several shops and vehicles destroyed.
The Idimu fire, which occurred in the wee hours of Saturday at an intersection, has also left property worth millions of naira in ruins.
About 34 buildings, 70 shops, one tricycle and one truck were consumed by the fire ignited by a fallen petrol-laden tanker, according to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).
“I have directed that we will meet with the union of the tanker drivers and other agencies on Monday morning, and we must make pronouncements relating to the usage of our roads. This is another unfortunate accident within one week; unfortunate because we are beginning to lose a lot of our assets and property,” Ambode said.
Ambode also said it had become necessary to check the activities of the tanker drivers and enforce the state traffic laws.
He added:“We do not want this to repeat itself again. I have been briefed that there were two tanker drivers actually competing on the road as at midnight including a commercial bus.
“In the process, one of the tanker drivers conveying 33,000 litres of fuel lost control at the bend and spilled its content to as far as five streets.”
According to him, 34 houses and 70 shops were destroyed by the fire.
Ambode also commiserated with those affected by the fire and appealed to them to remain calm.
“We will do immediate relief and take enumeration to see how we can address this issue. We will do everything in our might to make sure that they go back to their normal lives,” he said.
Giving an account of how the incident occurred, the Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mr Rasak Fadipe, said his men responded to the distress call about 12.08 a.m. on Saturday.
“The prompt response by the rescue officers with the aid of the community helped to prevent the fire from spreading. The effort we put in saved the MRS fuel station from being engulfed by the fire and we also saved several buildings here,” he said.
He said the incident also consumed fire- fighting materials that would have been used to contain about 15 to 20 future fire outbreaks.
“As the governor said, something has to be done to this type of incidents.”
Also speaking, Mr Babatunde Kokumo, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, pledged the support of the Police in addressing the situation.
“We want to see that‎ sanity returns to our roads, particularly sanity among our tanker drivers, tipper drivers and generally among all users of roads in Lagos.
“The government is doing so much for us and we must as a matter of seriousness reciprocate all these gestures by ensuring that we instill sanity,” the DCP said.
Mr Femi Giwa, the Head of Operations, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), said that the spilled content of the tanker caused an uncontrollable inferno.
Giwa said preliminary investigations revealed that two tankers en-route from Ikotun to Idimu were involved in an accident with a bus at Idimu, spilling the petrol.
“One of the tankers skidded off the road spilling its content. The petrol spread through the drains to parts of Idimu and its environs on Idimu-Ejigbo Road.
“Five minutes after, we had a fire outbreak which resulted in a colossal loss,’’ he said.
He said it was too early to determine the actual losses in human and financial terms.
According to Giwa, men of LASEMA, the State Fire Service, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Red Cross, Police and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps responded on time to manage the situation.
Others institutions, which assisted in containing the situation included the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Neighborhood Watch and the Community Development Association.
“We have put out the fire. We are about to commence full recovery. The essence is to make the area safe. We have done initial assessment of the losses. This may differ from full enumeration at the end of the exercise,’’ Giwa said.
He said post-disaster assessment would be made public after the emergency agencies had achieved some levels of stability.
The LASEMA official urged employers of tanker drivers to enlighten them on safety measures.
He also called on the various regulatory agencies to ensure that the excesses of tanker drivers were curtailed.
Also speaking, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, NEMA’s Public Relations Officer, commended Idimu youths for collaborating with relevant authorities in containing the fire.
Farinloye, however, frowned at the recklessness of some commercial vehicle drivers on the highways.
He advised the public against street trading, adding that many lives would have been lost if the fire had occurred during the day.
A driver and an eyewitness, Mr Femi Ogundele, lauded the swift response of the fire service and other security agencies in bringing the situation under control.
The Unit Commander of FRSC, Ikotun, Mrs Iwuoha Chinwendu, said tanker drivers be made to undergo compulsory tests to ascertain their psychological state.
She cautioned tanker drivers against night journeys because of its attendant risks.
Meanwhile, the Oba of Idimu, Azeez Adewale, expressed gratitude to God for averting a tragedy in the area and the state.
He, however, called on the state government to assist victims of the disaster.
Meanwhile, traders and owners of shops have started count their losses.
The traders, who rushed to their business premises at day break, were shocked at the level of destruction of their property.
Some of the traders, especially women sobbed uncontrollably as they formed circles around their ravaged shops, talking to no one in particular.
They lamented that the fire had ruined them as they had just taken delivery of the goods destroyed by the fire.
Mr Lekan Salami, who sells provisions in two shops destroyed by the inferno, said:“Everything in my shops had been burnt. My wife has just been delivered of a baby yesterday and I have just stocked my shop with variety of goods and provisions.
“Where do I begin from again, who will I cry to for help?”
An eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Baba Haliyu, said the petrol tanker collided with another articulated truck and skipped off the road.
“The tanker while trying to struggle with another trailer, hit the pole in front of a mosque, skipped off the road and immediately exploded,” he said.
Another resident, Mrs Aisha Olaniran, said that the driver absconded immediately the accident occurred.
“We thank God that the explosion happened at night because the area, being a market square, is always busy with men and women doing shopping while commercial buses also queue there for passengers.”