The federal government on Wednesday said it was mulling a ban on petroleum trucks with 60,000 litres capacity, following the incessant deaths resulting from petrol tanker accidents, which have claimed 493 lives in less than three years.
The government during a stakeholders engagement in Abuja therefore proposed a restriction of tankers’ carrying capacity to a maximum of 45,000 litres to reduce cases of explosions in the country.
Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, stated that this year alone, five accidents had been recorded with 121 fatalities and 79 injuries.
He added that in 2024, 11 accidents were recorded with 341 deaths and 124 injuries, noting that in 2023 two accidents were recorded resulting in 24 deaths and five injuries.
Ahmed described the rising number of accidents and fatalities as unacceptable, saying that urgent steps were needed to ensure safety in the transportation of petroleum products across the country.
“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 seven fatalities and three 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 stated.
He noted that some of the measures put in place to prevent such accidents include, among others: Minimum Industry Safety Training for Downstream Operators (MISTDO), which include training and retraining of drivers, motor boys, and all personnel involved in downstream operations.
Ahmed listed the installation of anti-spill safety valves on all petroleum product tanker trucks; implementation of safe-to-load initiatives; colour coding and branding of all tank trucks and spot checks by road safety officials on fatigued drivers and those under the influence as measures already taken.
The NMDPRA chief executive said the incidents were unnecessary, stressing that other measures put in place include the determination of an appropriate truck carrying capacity of (60,000 litres versus 45,000 litres) given the negative impact on the roads.
Ahmed recalled that the requirements were arrived at by the industry collectively, pursuant to learnings from previous accidents and safety studies conducted to ensure that the business of energy provision and distribution is conducted safely and securely.
He stressed that it was therefore unacceptable for any operator to conduct business in contravention of established protocols and safety requirements, arguing that the fact that these accidents keep recurring was indicative of non-compliance by the industry with the established safety measures or that the measures were defective.
“Consequently, we demand that all parties should ensure strict compliance with the established safety requirements,” he declared.
However, on the possible ban on 60,000 litres capacity tankers, the President, National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Yusuf Othman, said such a move would lead to loss of over N300 billion investment.
Othman explained that there are currently about 2,000 trucks with 60,000 litrescapacity involved in the transportation of petroleum products with each costing over N150 million.
“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 N150 million. By our estimation, we have 2,000 of them. We are talking about N300 billion investments some of which were financed by banks and other lenders,” he added.
Othman stated that besides the poor state of the Nigerian roads which has made the operating environment hostile, there are not enough spaces provided for tanker drivers to rest along the routes.
He harped on the importance of checking the health of the drivers to ensure that they are in good mental state to ply the roads, explaining that there is a strong correlation between the condition of the roads and accidents.
