Barely four days after a petrol tanker exploded, killing 98 people and injuring 69 others at Diko junction in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State, residents of Bida, Bida local government area of the state on Tuesday morning – today, January 21 – invaded a fallen tanker to scoop groundnut oil.
The tanker, said to be carrying about 30,000 liters of groundnut oil, lost control and overturned, leading to the content spilling all over the place.
The accident occurred near Shafa filling station in Esso area, a suburb of Bida town.
A viral video posted on social media by a resident of the area showed a chaotic scene where dozens of residents were seen scrambling to collect the spilled groundnut oil using all kinds of containers, including jerry cans and buckets.
Attempts by some concerned individuals to disperse the crowd fell on deaf ears as they scrambled for the nutritious content of the fallen tanker.
As at the time of filing this report, there was no report from the scene of any explosion or casualty, largely also because processed groundnut oil is not flammable.
Also there are no official reactions to the latest incident from the state government.
However, a source from the community confirmed that, “The tanker was carrying groundnut oil and not fuel as people earlier claimed in the viral video. Maybe people first mistook it for fuel because the place it happened is close to a filling station.”
