Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has described the fire incident caused by a tanker conveying premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, as very unfortunate. The fire burnt motorists and commuters beyond recognition and destroyed a significant number of vehicles.
The incident occurred between Indorama Gate and Aleto Bridge on the popular and always busy Eleme section of the East-West Road, which is currently undergoing major reconstruction by the Federal Government.
Governor Fubara expressed his sadness at the gruesome scenes he witnessed when he visited the scene of the incident on Saturday morning, accompanied by the State Commissioner of Police, Olatunji Disu, and the State Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Uchechukwu Nwafor.
The Governor explained that he received a call from the Managing Director of Indorama Petrochemical and Fertiliser Company Limited in Eleme Local Government Area, informing him of the incident.
Upon hearing the news, Governor Fubara immediately contacted the security agencies and instructed them to visit the scene to take charge of the security of the area to prevent the situation from escalating.
Governor Fubara said: “We are here to see for ourselves and gather firsthand information about the incident that occurred last night.
“Between 7:30 and 8:00 pm, we received information about the severity of the incident. I was informed that it was caused by a tanker vehicle conveying Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
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“In fact, I received the information from the MD of Indorama, and I promptly alerted the security agencies to ensure they take control of the security situation in the area.
“From what we are witnessing this morning, it is a distressing situation. We have observed a significant number of vehicles destroyed and lives lost.”
Governor Fubara explained that he had already requested the relevant government agencies to provide him with a detailed account of their findings to enable the State Government to take appropriate decisions and actions to significantly remedy the situation and reduce the negative impact on the affected people.
“I have already instructed the relevant agencies to provide us with a full briefing so that we can fully understand the situation and determine how much support we can offer to the bereaved families and mitigate the losses, which I believe, are not the fault of many of them.
“We are all aware of the condition of this road. It is truly unfortunate. When traveling on this road, our people should exercise caution.
“I firmly believe that this situation could have been avoided if motorists had acted responsibly. But it is too late now. The damage has been done. This is the situation we find ourselves in. We will assess how we can manage the aftermath,” he added.
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