Trucks with a capacity of 60,000 liters may be prohibited from using federal roadways by the Federal Government, according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
This comes in the wake of the rising death toll from gasoline tanker accidents, which have claimed 493 lives in just three years.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, revealed this at a stakeholder engagement on the recurrence of road tanker accidents held at its headquarters on Wednesday in Abuja. The meeting aimed to provide long-term solutions to the frequent accidents involving petroleum tankers that have resulted in loss of life and property.
He said, “We are here today to discuss the recent trend in road tanker accidents and the resultant fatalities and other consequences. The public is watching helplessly and looking forward to intervention to protect lives and properties.
“In the year 2022, four road tanker accidents were recorded that led to 7 fatalities and 3 injuries. The number of incidents decreased in the year 2023 to two, resulting in 24 fatalities and five injuries. By the year 2024, the number of accidents increased to 11 incidents leading to 341 fatalities and 124 injuries.
“This year to date, we have already recorded five road tanker accidents leading to 121 fatalities and 79 injuries. These incidents are unnecessary and unacceptable. They must be prevented and brought down to zero.
Ahmed claimed that since the authorities had already implemented preventive measures, the incidents were needless and undesirable.
According to him, the actions consist of determination of an appropriate truck carrying capacity of (60,000 litres versus 45,000 litres) given the negative impact on the roads.
Ahmed said that safe-to-load measures like color coding and branding of all tank trucks should be put into place.
FRSC spot checks on drunk drivers and drivers who are fatigued. Post emergency numbers and first responders to block off accident scenes after the crash.
Public education and awareness-raising regarding the risks associated with collecting volatile hydrocarbons from accident scenes. recurring gatherings with interested parties. establishing routes and commute times in order to regulate route management.
He noted that in order to guarantee the safe and secure operation of the energy provision and distribution business, the industry as a whole developed the requirements based on lessons learned from past incidents and safety studies.
“It is therefore unacceptable for any operator to conduct business in contravention of established protocols and safety requirements.
“It is these contraventions, coupled with the poor conditions of our transportation infrastructure, that are leading to unnecessary accidents and unfortunate loss of lives and properties.
“The fact that these accidents keep recurring is indicative of non-compliance by the industry with the established safety measures or that the measures are defective.
“Consequently, we demand that all parties should ensure strict compliance with the established safety requirements.
“In our deliberations today, we should examine the defects that are observed in these safety provisions and agree on necessary actions to close those gaps.”
Yusuf Othman, the president of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, opposed the proposed ban on tankers with a capacity of 60,000 liters, stating that it would result in a possible loss of over N300 billion in investment.
“We are saddened by these occurrences, and we believe measures need to be taken to avoid future occurrences.
“But, in doing that, we need to avoid being sentimental in making certain decisions so that we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
“I want to remind everybody here that transporters are investors and these investments are huge
“Any truck that loads 60,000 litres must be a truck with a strong and sound engine at an average cost of N150m. By our estimation, we have 2,000 of them. We are talking about N300bn investments, some of which were financed by banks and other lenders.”
He asked the government to step in and repair the state of the roads. According to him, accidents and road conditions are strongly correlated.