News
Tanker Explosions: Gov Mbah reiterates call for enforcement of anti-spill lock
Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has reiterated his call for the enforcement of anti-spill lock on fuel tankers across the country, saying that disasters arising from tanker-spill had become too frequent.
Mbah restated the call on Tuesday when he received in his office the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, and her team who were in Enugu to flag-off the distribution of emergency intervention items to the victims of the Saturday tanker fire that caused the loss of several lives on the spot and also consumed several vehicles and goods at Ugwu Onyeama along the Enugu-Onitsha federal highway.
“As I stated when I visited the scene, we have disasters that we know that we obviously could not have envisaged or predicted; and when they happen, we trigger all the responses that we have set up.
“But this issue of tanker fire or explosion is becoming too recurrent and I did call on the law enforcement agencies, particularly the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, to ensure the enforcement of the anti-spill lock. This is because if we have anti-spill lock on those tankers carrying inflammable products like petrol and automotive gas oil, we will then be able to mitigate such disasters because even if the tanker falls, it will still not spill. But what happened in Enugu was a function of the spill of PMS (petrol) that got into other cars, and they got ignited.
“So, I will always want to use this opportunity again to reiterate my call on the law enforcement agencies to ensure strict enforcement of the anti-spill lock on all our petroleum product tankers. It is extremely important,” he stated.
The governor explained that his administration was doing everything humanly possible to ensure that the survivors got full medical treatment, noting that the government would bear the full expenses.
“We have those that are at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu; University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) and the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Hospital, Park Lane, and we are taking care of the bills,” he said.
He thanked and commended President Bola Tinubu and NEMA for their empathy, commiseration, and quick response to the sad development.
“We are deeply grateful for the support you have also provided. It is also a demonstration of the partnership between the federal government and the sub-nationals in this case, which we would want to entrench. We provided the ever-needed logistics to ensure that these items get to those who are most in need of them,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Umar, while commiserating with the government and people of Enugu State over the sad incident, commended Governor Mbah for showing leadership in the midst of the disaster.
“I wish to commend you for the timely visit to the scene of the incident and various decisions made, including ensuring that maximum medical attention was given to the survivors.
“Today’s flag-off of relief assistance to the victims of tanker fire is therefore an outcome of the collaborative initiative, which NEMA has put in place to support the population at risk. It is the collective responsibility of all tiers of government to provide support to disaster victims; hence, NEMA is therefore complementing the efforts of the state government,” she said.
She announced a donation of relief materials consisting of 200 25kg-bags of Rice, 200 cartons of spaghetti, 20 cartons of five-litre vegetable oil, 20 cartons of seasoning and 20 cartons of tomatoes paste and medicaments and medical consumables to persons affected and impacted by the tanker fire explosion in Enugu State.
The DG also added her voice to the alarm over the increasing rate of tanker fire in various parts of the country.
“The increasing cases of tanker fire explosion across Nigeria are not only devastating, but also a clog on the wheel of progress and economic development of our communities. Such incidents have negatively impacted lives, property, the environment, and have a grave potential of slowing down our developmental strides,” the DG concluded.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has disclosed that President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to prioritize the protection of Nigerian Christians allegedly targeted by ISIS-linked extremists.
Hegseth said the move culminated in the elimination of a top Islamic State commander in Nigeria.
Hegseth made the revelation during an interview aired by Fox News, where he defended the administration’s counterterrorism operations in West Africa.
He praised Trump’s leadership on national security issues during the interview.
According to him, intelligence gathered during the mission contributed to the deaths of “hundreds” of ISIS fighters accused of attacks on Christians and threats against the United States homeland.
“There’s a lot of things we do that the media pays attention to, and a lot of things that the president empowers the Department to do on behalf of the American people, that he deserves great credit for,” Hegseth said during the interview.
The comments come days after President Trump announced that a joint operation involving U.S. and Nigerian forces led to the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki.
Al-Minuki was described by American officials as ISIS’ global second-in-command.
The operation reportedly took place in northeastern Nigeria’s Lake Chad Basin, an area long troubled by insurgent violence linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram.
Reuters reported that the operation was coordinated with Nigerian authorities and executed through a precision air-and-ground assault without reported U.S. casualties.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu also acknowledged the operation, describing it as a significant milestone in counterterrorism cooperation between both countries.
While the Trump administration has framed the military actions as part of efforts to stop the killing of Christians in Nigeria, analysts and Nigerian officials have continued to stress that extremist violence in the country affects both Muslims and Christians alike.
Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar previously stated that joint operations with the United States were aimed at combating terrorism generally and protecting all Nigerians irrespective of religion.
The extremist group most commonly associated with ISIS activities in Nigeria is the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which operates mainly in the northeast and around the Lake Chad region.
Security experts note that counterterrorism missions involving high-profile targets are usually conducted through multinational cooperation and are often publicly acknowledged after completion.
Hegseth also hinted that additional military operations could follow if extremist attacks continue in the region.
A teacher at Federal Government College, Anka, Mustapha Yahaya Maru, has reportedly been k!lled by armed band!ts despite the payment of ransom for his release.
Sahara Reporters reports that Maru was abducted early May while travelling to Anka in Zamfara State alongside several other passengers after their vehicle was intercepted by the attackers.
Following the abduction, the k!dnappers contacted his family and demanded a ransom far beyond their financial capacity.The report states that after intense efforts and negotiations, the family eventually raised and paid the agreed amount in hopes of securing his freedom.
Tragically, the bandits k!lled Maru on Tuesday instead of releasing him.
His de@th has thrown his family and the Maru community into mourning and has further heightened concerns over the worsening insecurity in the region.
The Presidency on Wednesday said social media influencer Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VDM, should face the law over the circulation of an alleged fake audio purportedly involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated this in a post on X, accusing VDM of disseminating false content on social media.
“This VDM needs to face the weight of the law for being the conveyor and disseminator of a fake audio of President Tinubu. This is a clear case of an egregious abuse of the social media platform,” Onanuga wrote.
The presidential aide was reacting to a post by an X user, identified as Aneex, who questioned why some people believed the voice in the audio belonged to Tinubu.
The user described the audio as “cheap propaganda” and alleged that VDM was exploiting emotions to spread misinformation.
In the viral content, VeryDarkMan allegedly used the audio to call on Nigerians to reject President Tinubu’s re-election bid in the 2027 general elections.
The development comes just days after President Tinubu secured the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress at the party’s nationwide direct primary held on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
During the exercise, Tinubu reportedly polled 10,999,162 votes, defeating his sole challenger, APC chieftain Stanley Osifo, who secured 16,503 votes from over 12 million registered party members.
Meanwhile, opposition figures are already positioning ahead of 2027, with Peter Obi expected to fly the flag of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is also expected to lead the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ticket.
-
News1 day agoNigerian international found dead in Abuja shortly after return from Europe
-
News2 days ago
Tinubu congratulates Rangers International after ninth NPFL title win
-
News2 days ago
Akani Landlords in Enugu raise alarm over alleged encroachment, urge buyers to exercise caution
-
News15 hours ago
30,000 Fulani militants fuelling Nigeria’s insecurity – US report
-
Business18 hours ago
S/East companies shutting down over rising energy costs — MAN
-
International1 day ago
Dozens of lranian fighters killed, as US resumes strike in Strait of Hormuz, targets IRGC Naval Boats in the Gulf
-
Uncategorized2 days ago
Terrorists kidnap 10, raid police station, raze Kwara emir’s palace
-
News2 days ago
INEC appeals ruling against Election Guidelines
