President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that the death of 23 people, as confirmed by the Federal Road Safety Commission, “represents another disturbing and saddening incident in the litany of tragedies that have befallen our country”.
According to a statement issued by the spokesperson to the president, Alhaji Shehu Garba, Buhari made this statement while reacting to the petroleum tanker explosion Wednesday September 23, 2020, in Lokoja, the Kogi State Capital which claimed the lives of travelers, school children, bystanders, including some students of Kogi State Polytechnic.
He said that “I am seriously worried about the frequency of these unfortunate and large scale tragedies in the country which cause needless deaths. these frequent incidents that result in loss of lives and property are a national scandal caused by our indifference to safety standards”.
Stressing that many accidents are preventable if proper proactive and precautionary measures are put in place or properly observed as routine policies, the President regretted that “ours is a country where we move on whenever tragedies occur instead of taking preventive safety measures to forestall future calamities”.
He urged the county’s transport authorities, traffic and road management agencies as well as law enforcement officials to sit up and enforce safety standards with more seriousness adding, “refusal to do the right thing can cause potential tragic problems that harm innocent people”.
Condoling with Kogi State Government and the families of the victims of the tragedy, he said, “Nigeria is not having a shortage of laws and regulations, but our problem is lack of zeal to enforce those laws and regulations for the sake of public safety”.
