The Oluku Tanker Explosion: The Tragedy Of A Rich Nation With Citizens Living In Abject Poverty -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

On Thursday, October 15, 2026, a petrol tanker fell at Oluku Market, along Lagos-Benin Expressway in the morning spilling its contents. Many people trooped to the scene to scavenge for spilled petrol. And a few hours later, the tanker burst into flame while people were still scooping fuel from the wreckages. The inferno destroyed market stalls, goods, several vehicles. According to media report about 4 people were killing and between eight to eleven others sustained varying degrees of burns and were rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for treatment.

While there are conflicting reports about the number of casualties, media reports have it that several hours after the conflagration, the Edo State Emergency Management Agency (EdoSEMA) arrived the scene and security operatives then cordoned off the area and diverted vehicular traffic along the Benin-Lagos Highway to prevent further exposure.

The occurrence of these tanker explosion tragedies is troubling more so as they are preventable if adequate precaution is taken. Interestingly, the occurrences of these tragic incidents are more frequent since the coming of the All Progressives Congress (APC) regime that has downgraded Nigeria to the status of the poverty capital of the world. Official FRSC record has it that between 2023 and now, Nigeria has recorded over 70 cases of fuel tanker explosions, resulting in at least 740 fatalities across the country. And the tragedy has become more frequent in this era of fuel subsidy removal that has exponentially pushed up the prices of petroleum products. In 2023 there 13 cases of fuel tanker explosions with 118 fatalities. In 2024, there also 13 incidents of tanker explosions resulting in 85 deaths. In 2025 there are about 10 cases recorded between January and March alone that resulted in 120 deaths.

This year, apart from the Oluku explosion incident, we have had four other incidents before now. In March, a gas tanker explosion occurred at Sangotedo, Ajah, along the Lekki-Epe Expressway killing 2 people and destroying multiple adjoining shops, warehouses and power grid installation after a tipper truck rammed into a broken down gas tanker. In August, a fully loaded diesel tanker failed break and collided with a heavy truck carrying bags of animal feed, triggering a massive fire that killed two people and injured two others in Agu-Awka area, along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. On September 30, 2026 a petrol tanker collided with a heavy-duty truck along Airport Road in the Bado area of Sokoto, fell, spilling its contents but it was the timely arrival of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) that coordinated the activities of other agencies that forestalled disaster. And on Sunday, October 4, 2026, a fuel-laden tanker collided with a stationary truck in front of the Odukpani Local Government Area Headquarters resulting in two fatalities and destruction of property, shops and other packed vehicles.

Experts have identified factors such as lack of pipeline infrastructure that has made the land route the only means of transporting the highly volatile product, vehicle collisions, bad road infrastructure, inadequate truck maintenance culture, mechanical failures, poor regulatory oversight and monitoring, lack of punishment for offenders and much more fundamentally, economic hardship that is forcing people into the highly dangerous practice of scooping spilled fuel from a fallen tanker. The FRSC record shows that the fuel scooping factor is the highest cause of these tragedies. In 2024 alone, 411 people died while scooping fuel from crash sites according to the FRSC record.

There is no doubt that economic hardship is the major cause of this tragedy. It is not ignorance but desperation for survival that has made the people lose sight of the inherent danger of tampering with highly inflammable products like petrol. Inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the people and rendered the average Nigeria families helpless. More than 160 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor. There is a high level of unemployment and heavy dependency burden. Many Nigerians live from hand-to-mouth while don’t even know where there next meal would come from.

The government should review its suffocating and ill-advised economic policies and provide jobs for the citizens. The government should stop this reactionary measures of waiting for tragedy to occur before it reacts. The government should intensify measures and enlightenment campaigns to sensitize the people against the danger of scooping fuel from a broken down tankers. The roads the primary cause of this frequent tanker falls should be fixed. There should be proper regulation about the movement of tankers on our highways. Their movements may be restricted to a particular period. In advanced economies highly inflammable products like fuel are transported through underground pipelines. But in Nigeria, everything is by road that are in a state of disrepair. Proper safety regulation should be adopted when vehicles conveying sensitive products like fuel falls. The emergency management and the fire service should be invited immediately and the scene condoned off. Again, the necessary safety precautions should be adopted when trans-loading product from the fallen tanker to another. The regulatory agencies have a duty to ensure that any tanker conveying sensitive products like fuel must be in good condition. Most tankers and trailers on our highways are simply mobile death-traps. The drivers hired to drive those tankers should be subjected to routine check to ascertain their mental health status.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed
hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com
An actress, social activist, politician
London, UK