The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, has condemned the persistent practice of residents rushing to scoop fuel from fallen tankers. He blamed the recurring explosions and loss of lives on poor community leadership and eroded national values.
Fuel tanker explosions are a recurring tragedy in Nigeria, often caused by residents attempting to scoop petrol from crashed or leaking tankers. Despite repeated public warnings, hundreds of lives have been lost to such incidents over the years.
PUNCH Online reports that the latest incident occurred on Tuesday at Essa, Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 60. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the explosion happened after residents rushed to scoop fuel from a fallen tanker.
Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago mourned the victims, describing the incident as “tragic and avoidable.” Reports indicated that emergency responders struggled to contain the inferno, which consumed several houses, vehicles, and motorcycles.
Speaking on Channels Television on Thursday, Issa-Onilu recalled a similar deadly explosion in Dikko community, Niger State, in January 2025, which killed at least 86 people. He said that incident prompted President Bola Tinubu to give the NOA a “marching order” to conduct a nationwide sensitisation campaign.
He explained that the campaign was launched in the Dikko community, bringing together traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth groups, women groups, and security agencies.
“But our findings show clearly that sensitisation and enlightenment alone won’t solve this problem,” Issa-Onilu said. “They are quite aware of the danger.”
He recounted that during the Dikko incident, security operatives arrived early to warn residents away but were repelled. “The police arrived almost 20 minutes before the fire and tried to prevent the people from approaching the product, but they chased the security personnel away,” he said. “Barely 10 minutes after they chased them away, the explosion occurred.”
Issa-Onilu blamed a “failure of leadership at the community level,” stating that local leaders failed to support security forces. “If they had done that, Dikko would not have happened,” he added.
The NOA boss argued the repeated pattern shows a deeper social problem. “It’s about values in this country. It’s about values,” he stated.
According to him, the NOA has since met with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and other stakeholders to find lasting solutions.
“We sat with NUPENG… and they gave us a litany of reasons why things needed to be done differently,” he said. “And I’m aware that at the level of the downstream petroleum agency… all sorts of regulations have been put forward to ensure that this is curbed.”
He noted that despite awareness and safety regulations, many Nigerians still risk their lives. “You can say bad road, yes, we all know the bad spots. They have been defined and documented. But if there is a spillage, why do you go near it when you know the risk involved?” Issa-Onilu asked.
The Essa tragedy is the latest in a long list of such incidents. In 1998, over 1,000 people died in Jesse, Delta State, after a pipeline explosion also triggered by fuel scooping. Despite ongoing public enlightenment campaigns, officials say the continued loss of lives shows that enforcement and community values remain the weakest links in preventing these disasters.
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