Panic gripped residents of Lapai in Niger State on Sunday after a petrol-laden tanker overturned along the Lambata–Lapai–Agaie Road, spilling its contents and raising fears of a possible explosion.
The tanker, reportedly conveying fuel from Lagos to Kano, fell in the early hours of Sunday at Takalafiya village, about two kilometres from Lapai town, in Lapai Local Government Area.
Eyewitnesses said the vehicle lost control at a section of the road recently reconstructed under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) intervention project but which had already begun to deteriorate.
A resident, Mallam Mahmud Abubakar, told Daily Trust that the poor condition of the road might have contributed to the accident.
Another witness, Mohammed Hassan Sonmaji, said the quick response of the fire service unit of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBUL), Lapai, and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) prevented what could have been a major disaster.
He noted that members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Lapai Chapter, also assisted in controlling the situation.
It was learnt that some of the spilled fuel was carefully recovered into drums to avoid wastage and reduce environmental risks.
Speaking on the incident, the Director of Information and Special Duties at the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Dr. Ibrahim Audu Hussaini, assured that there was no cause for panic.
He confirmed that the tanker did not explode and that firefighting trucks from IBB University remained on standby, while security personnel had been deployed to secure the area.