Just two days after a tanker explosion claimed the lives of over 90 people and injured many more in Niger State, residents of Bida town were seen again gathering around a fallen truck on Monday, January 20, and scooping its contents.
The incident took place near the AYM Shafa filling station, where videos circulating online showed people crowding around the truck. Some were seen collecting the cargo, while others fled the scene, possibly fearing a repeat of the earlier tragedy.
Eyewitnesses provided varying accounts of the truck’s cargo. A resident, Yinusa Jiya, told reporters, “The people were not even afraid despite earlier assumptions that it was petrol.” Another witness, Fatimah Mohammed, said the tanker was carrying groundnut oil, explaining, “It fell around AYM Shafa filling station yesterday (Monday) and residents stole huge amounts of the groundnut oil dripping from the tanker.”
This development comes in the wake of a deadly tanker explosion at Dikko Junction, Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, where at least 98 people lost their lives. The death toll has continued to rise as some of those who sustained severe injuries succumbed in hospitals.
The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) confirmed that 86 victims were buried in a mass grave on Sunday. Others with first-degree burns are still receiving treatment in various hospitals.
Authorities have blamed citizens for the tragedy, citing the dangerous practice of fuel scooping as the cause of the explosion. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to intensify public awareness campaigns against the practice.