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Petroleum tanker drivers strike

Posted by 9jabook.com on November 30, 2010 at 5:24pm

The Petroleum Tanker Drivers wing of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), yesterday, embarked on a nation-wide warning strike to protest what they term the "indiscriminate victimisation" of their workers by soldiers and the "mysterious" disappearance of petroleum products.

NUPENG's Lagos Zone chairman, Tokunbo Korede, said the seven days warning strike is coming after a 21-day ultimatum elapsed on November 26, 2010, following a meeting with the Chief of Army Staff, the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), the Minister of Labour, and the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Mr Korede said the failure of the government officials at the meeting to apprehend and prosecute the army officials behind the assassination of a tanker driver in Jos and the disappearance of several tankers, along with their petroleum products, within military installations has necessitated them to push their case..

Litany of intimidation

"It is true," he said. "It started this morning (yesterday) after the 21-day ultimatum we gave elapsed. It is a nationwide action with only PTD on strike now. Our member died instantly at a joint check point of army and police officers at Jos because he refused to be extorted. The culprits ran to Bauchi Garrison Command, where our truck was taken. But up till now the culprits have not being brought out and the tanker and the product are no longer to be found."

The union leader mentioned other incidents, in the month of November, in which tankers and products were seized by army personnel, only for them to vanish "with no trace". "In Ibadan, the army seized our truck," he said. "After a week our truck disappeared with no trace. Also, this November in Port Harcourt, the army and police stopped a luxurious bus on the road and that is how the tanker driver ran over some people. The army immediately took our truck to the barracks. We even paid compensation to the people that died. But after some time the truck and the product were no more to be found."

The NUPENG boss says if the federal government does not take the warning strike serious, it could affect the 2011 general elections. "For how long are they going to take to fish out those criminal uniformed men who are behind all this?," he said. "This is a seven-day warning strike for those saying we are working on it to bring out a solution. They need to take us serious because it will be too disastrous for the coming elections."

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Family Tragedy:Pregnant woman, hubby, child, others die in petrol tanker fire

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on December 3, 2010 at 7:34pm
No fewer than five persons, including a pregnant woman, her child and husband died, while several others have been declared missing in a petrol tanker fire in Lagos yesterday. Lagos Police Command Spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, a Superintendent of Police, confirmed five persons dead and eight persons injured.

Daily Sun learnt the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Mba’s statement reads: “Today at about 5.45a.m. a tanker with a registration number XZ 777 JJJ loaded with petroleum product suspected to be premium motor spirit was involved in a fatal accident near Fin-Niger Bus-Stop. The driver reportedly ran into a ditch under circumstances yet to be ascertained. The contents spilled on the road and it eventually went up in flames.”

He said the tanker and seven other vehicles were burnt, while five person were burnt beyond recognition and eight others sustained various degrees of burns.” Although the police put the casualty figure at five, Daily Sun learnt that more than 10 persons were consumed by the tanker fire.

Witnesses told Daily Sun that the cause of the tragedy should be traced to the tanker and another car on top speed which overtook the tanker earlier.
It was gathered that as the car suddenly moved in front of the long vehicle, the tanker driver attempted to maneuver to avoid ramming into it. In the process the tanker lost control, fell on its side, and spilled its cargo on the road.

The witnesses said the driver and conductor of the tanker tried to alert oncoming vehicles but the motorists failed to heed the warning and kept driving past.

It was gathered that the movement of the cars and mini-buses ignited the fire, leading to an explosion from the tanker.

Daily Sun gathered that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations in the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Abdullateef Junaid immediately proceeded to the scene to assist in the evacuation of the victims of the fire.

A witness who was identified as John Dickson said shortly after, the men of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Civil Defence Service Corps, Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) and sympathizers arrived they were able to rescue eight people who suffered severe burns.
As at press time, nothing was heard about those who reportedly ran towards the swamp for safey. Efforts by the police only yielded scanty results as only two persons were rescued.

Some residents and sympathizers lamented that more people went towards the swamp, but only two were rescued.
They pointed to items such as shoes, groundnuts and baked cow pea which littered the vicinity of the swamp as evidence that there were still more people in the area. Dickson told Daily Sun that, “a man and his pregnant wife and their little baby were burnt to death in the fire. Some people died inside the swamp. Some are still missing. I believe more than 10 persons were killed in the fire.”
Some of the victims were reportedly rushed to Holy Family Hospital, Satellite Town, while others were moved to the General Hospital.

In tears and anguish relatives of the deceased thronged the scene of the incident to search for their loved ones.
A relative who was identified as Achike told Daily Sun that he was sleeping in a hut on a farmland with other farmers when all of a sudden they heard a loud bang which was followed by a huge fire
Achike said: “We ran for our lives, you know the farmland is swampy. As we were running for safety, some of us fell into the swamp and we believe they are still there.”

He noted that he was able to see some of his colleagues who ran for dear life, “ but as I am talking to you, my best friend Okon is nowhere to be found. I am sure he drowned in the swamp.
Maduabuchi Okone who took an early bus from Mile-2 on his way to Republic of Benin said he managed to escape from the fire. “Our bus ran into the fire. We have to rush out from the bus. I broke my leg. So, I could not run far but other occupants of the bus ran towards the farmland. I am still surprised that when we converged to continue the journey, some of the passengers were nowhere to be found.”
Continuing, he said, the fire fighters should, as a matter of urgency assist in combing the swampy area to fish out those that were missing.

Another person who could not control his anger, Martins Okoye said he was suspecting that his wife Rose might be among the dead. “I have searched through all the hospitals the police directed me to visit but I can’t find her. I believe my wife may have been burnt beyond recognition.”

He said his wife was travelling to Badagry in an unknown vehicle but that since the incident, her phone had been switched off. “The time the incident happened coincided with the time my wife called me that she was on her way to Cotonou and that she was around Fin-Niger.
He said the government should take the issue of citizens seriously by making sure that those who were trapped in the swamp were rescued and that the identities of those who lost their lives in the fire tragedy were ascertained.

An artisan at the Dantata Bus Stop area of the Badagry-Mile 2 who was identified as Adeosun Yusuf, who was on his way to work when the incident occurred described what he saw as a waste of human lives.
Adeosun, a vulcaniser told Daily Sun that he was shocked at the spread of the fire and the way it consumed everything in its path...

“This is a bad way to start preparations for Christmas this December. I was on my way to work. I usually come out early because of people who go to work early and may have flat tyres. It was while I was just trying to set my tools of work that I heard a loud sound and when I looked up, I saw that it was a tanker carrying fuel that fell. Then, the driver and conductor got out and started making calls as I walked closer to see for myself the extent of damage.

“Within a few minutes, the tanker exploded and those of us trying to get to the scene of the accident had to run back for safety. I saw cars, buses and small trucks trying to escape the fire. The fire was so much that we were just unable to do anything.
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Nigeria: Overturned gas tanker explodes, kills 14

Posted by 9jabook.com on July 3, 2010 at 3:54am
GOMBE, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities say an out-of-control gasoline tanker flipped over and exploded in northern Nigeria, killing 14 people in the inferno. Officials say the crash happened Friday afternoon in Gombe, the capital of Gombe state. The tanker exploded just outside the gates of a local hospital, but doctors were unable to save those who perished in the flames. Fatal traffic crashes are common in Nigeria, where decades-old roads are normally pitted with potholes and drivers frequently fail to observe traffic laws..
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