Nigeria is once again mourned by the explosion of a tanker truck. At least 70 people were killed Saturday morning as a crowd gathered around the overturned vehicle to collect fuel, which has become a precious commodity in this country facing a serious economic crisis.
“The number of deaths so far stands at 70,” confirmed Kumar Tsukwam, the director for Niger State, in the center of the country, of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the road safety agency. National Road Safety. “Most of the victims were burned beyond recognition,” he added, adding that he was still at the scene.
An economic crisis for a year and a half
On Saturday morning around 10 a.m., a tanker carrying 60,000 liters of gasoline had an accident at the “Dikko junction” on the road linking the federal capital Abuja to Kaduna town, according to the FRSC. “The fuel spilled on the ground and a crowd of people gathered to collect the fuel but the tanker suddenly caught fire, engulfing another tanker with it,” explains a note from the FRSC.
The economic crisis that Nigeria has been going through for a year and a half has pushed many Nigerians into precariousness, particularly due to soaring fuel prices. Some do not hesitate to risk their lives in road accidents to recover fuel, the price of which has quintupled in eighteen months.
-Inflation above 30%
The country has experienced inflation above 30% for a year, fueled in particular by the economic reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in power since May 2023. Among which is the end of fuel subsidies, which has caused prices to soar. food and transportation prices, making gasoline a catalyst for Nigerian discontent.
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In October, more than 170 people died in the same way in Jigawa state, in the north of Africa’s most populous country, which is also the continent’s largest oil producer. In 2020, the FRSC recorded 1,531 accidents involving tankers, which caused the death of 535 people.
