Women, children killed in another Niger tanker explosion
At least 24 people including children and women died yesterday in a petrol tanker explosion at Essa village, Agaie-Bida road in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State. Our correspondent gathered that the victims got burnt following an explosion while scooping fuel from the tanker. It was further gathered that no fewer than 40 others […]
At least 24 people including children and women died yesterday in a petrol tanker explosion at Essa village, Agaie-Bida road in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State.
Our correspondent gathered that the victims got burnt following an explosion while scooping fuel from the tanker. It was further gathered that no fewer than 40 others were injured in the incident. A source who spoke with our correspondent said most of the victims were women and children as they were the first set of people to arrive the scene when the tanker fell.
Sources said the petrol laden tanker fell around 11am on Tuesday due to the deplorable state of the road at Essa, about 4km from Badeggi town and that people then gathered there and started scooping fuel. The tanker, it was learnt, exploded around 2pm.
A resident of the area who didn’t want his name mentioned said the victims were from various villages including Essa, Amude, Angulu, Patishi, Kupafu, Lafiagi, Goshigi-Tetengi and Goshigi-Nchiko, which are all around the area.
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The Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullahi Baba Arah, confirmed the incident to our correspondent. He said 24 people were confirmed dead around 5pm while 40 others were severely injured.
He said some of the injured victims were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Bida, while some families opted for traditional mode of treatment.
“It is true that a tanker fell at Essa village. Our rescue officials are on ground. So far, 24 people have been confirmed dead while 40 others were injured and some of them had been taken to Federal Medical Centre, Bida”, he said.
The chairman of the Tanker Drivers Association, Niger State chapter, Farouk Mohammed Kawo, also confirmed the incident.
He said the tanker departed from Lagos and was en route the North when it fell.
Comrade Farouk Kawo lamented that over 30 tanker trailers had been involved in accidents within this month alone on the same road due to its deplorable state. He added that each time such incident occurs, youths in the communities rush out to scoop fuel from the tankers.
He said a tanker carrying vegetable oil fell on Sunday and that residents around the area scooped the product.
He appealed to the Niger State government to urgently come to their aid by grading the most deplorable portions of the road to ease their movement and reduce loss of lives and properties, pending the intervention of the federal government.
The road
Niger State, with the largest landmass of about 76, 000 square kilometres has the longest federal roads stretching across the state. These roads include the Lambata-Bida, Suleja-Minna, Birnin Gwari to Jebba Road and Minna-Kontagora Road, with all of them being in deplorable conditions over the years.
The Lambata-Lapai-Agaie-Bida road, for instance, being reconstructed under the NNPCL road project intervention was said to be first constructed by the civilian regime of Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari in the 1980s, and rehabilitated by the General Sani Abacha led federal government under the Petroleum Trust Fund intervention project.
In an interview with Daily Trust last night, Professor Umaru Ndagi of the University of Abuja, lamented the deplorable state of the Bida–Lambata road in Niger State, describing it as a national economic lifeline whose neglect has cost more lives and resources than the price of its repair.
The professor, who hails from Niger State and is familiar with the terrain, traced the history of the road’s condition and its strategic importance. “The portion of the road that got terribly bad was from Lambata, which is near Suleja, down to Mokwa. From Mokwa down to Lagos, you don’t have trouble,” he explained.
He noted that the road from Mokwa to Bida was rehabilitated during the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, reducing the stretch of bad road. “What remains since then has been from Bida to Lambata…It is in a terrible state.”
According to him, the Buhari administration attempted repairs through the tax credit system. “They started from Lambata here and they did up to Lapai. So what remains now is from after Lapai to Bida,” he said, identifying Bida, Badegi, and Agaie as the major communities affected along the 50-kilometre stretch.
“The losses we have suffered and the loss we continue to suffer is more than the cost of repairing this road,” Ndagi lamented.
He referenced the recent tragedy where people died while scooping fuel from a fallen tanker. “Why are we having frequent accidents along that road? It is because of the terrible state of the road. The road completely failed many years ago”.
Emphasising on the road’s national significance, Ndagi said, “It is the major trunk road that links the northern part of Nigeria and the southern part of Nigeria, particularly the South West.
“Tankers go to carry petroleum from Lagos and this is the only road through which they bring petroleum products to the northern part of Nigeria.”
He warned that any blockage on the road could cripple the economy.
“If that road is blocked, it holds Nigeria’s economy to ransom,” he said. “There is no other way you can move petroleum products from Lagos or from any part of the South to the North except through this road.”
Calling for urgent intervention, he added, “This is an old road, but this is one of the most critical of all the federal roads.”
Niger records 194 deaths in 15 months from tanker explosions
The tanker explosions across Niger State, especially on the Agaie-Bida road have claimed no fewer than 194 lives, with scores injured between August 2024 and October 2025.
The latest happened yesterday, October 21, 2025, claiming no fewer than 24 lives.
A data from the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) indicated that the deadliest incident occurred on January 18, 2025, claiming 105 lives, injuring many others as well as destroying property worth millions of naira at Dikko junction. Daily Trust recalls that on that day, tragedy struck along the Abuja-Kaduna highway at Dikko Junction when a petroleum laden tanker carrying 60,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) exploded.
Victims numbering 98 were buried in a mass grave at the Primary Healthcare Centre, Dikko.
The data also showed that 58 lives were lost on September 8, 2024, in an explosion on the same Agaie-Bida road. Another explosion on March 4, 2025, at Karamin-Ramin in Mashegu LGA killed seven farmers.
Also, two separate tanker explosions occurred on March 22, 2025, in Kontagora, the headquarters of Kontagora LGA, and along the Badeggi-Agaie road, but no lives were lost in either incident.
Like previous incidents, the Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency attributed the high casualties usually recorded from the incidents to people gathering to scoop fuel.
The Tuesday’s incident also left a grim picture as several charred bodies were recovered from the scene. Most of the victims were of people who had gathered to scoop fuel.
Residents of the state including tanker drivers blamed the incessant fall of tankers on the deplorable state of the roads and called for improved emergency response systems to prevent such devastating incidents.
Dr. Ibrahim Audu Hussaini, the Director of Information and Special Duties at NSEMA, said the tanker accidents and subsequent explosions were primarily caused by the poor state of roads, drivers’ recklessness, drug abuse, faulty tankers, overloading, and fatigue.
He called on the federal government to urgently repair and reconstruct the roads, create heavy-duty lanes, install speed limiters on heavy-duty vehicles, and monitor overloading and speeding by drivers.
“There is also the need to sensitise tanker drivers on the dangers of drug use and abuse while on the road. There should be periodic training of drivers on road safety regulations, and weighing equipment should be on our major roads to reduce overloading,” he said.
Some stakeholders who spoke to Daily Trust said unless serious actions are taken beyond routine political statements, preventable disasters will continue.
Niger gov, others sympathise with victims’ families
Niger State governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, yesterday condoled with the families of the victims of the explosion. The governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, describes the incident as worrisome, unfortunate, and pathetic. “This is yet another painful, difficult, and tragic one for the people and the state government”, he said.
The governor prays that Allah will repose the souls of those who died in the explosion and grant quick recovery to the injured.
He said it is disheartening how people have continued to approach fallen tankers to scoop the contents despite sensitization on the danger of such action.
He commended the management and staff of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) for their prompt intervention, assuring that the state government through relevant MDAs will provide the needed support.
Also, the Nigeria Governors Forum, in a statement signed by its chairman and Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, commiserated with the people and government of Niger State, especially the families of the victims.
“Our sympathies are with every family that is affected in this unfortunate incident. We commend all the emergency responders for their humanitarian assistance to the victims. This disaster again calls attention to safety issues in every aspect of our life. This is particularly important in how combustible items are stored and transported at every stage,” the Forum stated.
Tragedy an act of greed, ignorance – FRSC
Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed has described the Agaie-Bida road tanker incident as “a needless national tragedy born out of ignorance, greed, and disregard for safety warnings.”
In a statement signed by the Corps Public Education Officer (CPEO) Olusegun Ogungbemide, he reiterated that scooping fuel from fallen tankers or tampering with crash scenes amounts to inviting death with open arms, as such volatile materials are highly flammable and unpredictable.
“This is not just a crash; it is a painful reminder that every time people ignore safety advice and rush to scoop petrol, they gamble with their lives. No litre of fuel is worth a human life,” the Corps Marshal stated.
He further directed all FRSC formations nationwide to intensify community based sensitisation, particularly in rural and high risk areas, to warn residents against approaching or tampering with fuel laden crash sites.
Mohammed urged traditional rulers, religious leaders, and local authorities to join hands with the corps in educating communities on the deadly consequences of fuel scooping.
He appealed to the motoring public and residents along major highways to report any crash involving tankers or other hazardous materials immediately via the FRSC toll-free emergency number; 122, rather than taking reckless actions that lead to avoidable loss of lives.
He said the corps remained committed to ensuring safer road environments and preventing tragedies of this nature through sustained public enlightenment, enforcement, and collaboration with relevant stakeholders.