A few days after the Eid El Fitr holidays, the people of Edibe Edibe Street in the Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State are reeling from the tragedy of gas explosion that left in its wake, more than 60 injured people and many properties burnt. The fire apparently started from a private filling station which was totally razed. Some cars and shops nearby were also impacted.
According to Eitokpa Sunday, the police spokesperson in the state, about 31 people had severe burns and had been moved to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH). The commissioner for health in the state, Henry Ayuk, gave an update and said that about 60 people have been recorded injured in the fire incident.
Reports indicate that the casualties were increasing because there was no emergency response to the fire incident. It was the people around that tried to use water, sand and leaves to put out the fire.
We are worried that gas/fuel tanker explosions around the country seem to have become a recurring decimal. In 2020, there were 1,531 petrol tanker crashes resulting in 535 deaths and 1,142 injuries. A gas tanker and trailer collision in Lagos resulted in two deaths and destroyed a series of properties, including warehouses, recently.
Between 2022 and 2025, petrol tanker explosions resulted in 493 deaths. In Jigawa State, a fuel tanker explosion killed about 150 people who were scooping fuel from the damaged vehicle
While we sympathise with the victims of the Cross River incident, it is sad that this might not be the last tragedy except actions are taken to forestall a re-currence. Nigerian transportation system has been a story in lack of planning.
For a country with the population and resources at our disposal, transportation by air, land, rail and sea ought to be better planned.
Most of the truck explosions we have had are due to bad roads, reckless and ill-trained drivers and vehicles that are not roadworthy