House of Representatives has urged the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, and the Federal Fire Service, FFS to liaise and establish dire fighting stations on all federal highways to ensure prompt rescue during fire accidents on the roads.
It also urged the FRSC to increase supervision on trucks transporting petroleum products as well as other highly flammable products to avoid overloading and to ensure compliance with safety standards to prevent and reduce accidents that have the potential of resulting in explosions on the highways.
The call came on the heels of media reports of tanker fire accidents.
The motion “Need to Establish Fire Fighting Quick Response Station on Federal Highways Across the country”, cnsidered at the plenary was moved by Hon. Taiwo Olukemi Oluga.
Oluga while moving the motion noted that despite efforts of the federal government, accidents still occurred on the highways, some of which led to fire explosions that result in the loss of lives and properties.
“Such ghastly accidents which lead to fire explosions occur, there is often no quick response from the firefighting or road safety agency as they mostly do not have firefighting equipment handy on the highways.
“On 22nd June 2021, many vehicles were burnt beyond redemption after a tanker laden with fuel burst into flames on Ogere Axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, leading to loss of lives and properties and resulting in terrible traffic gridlock due to lack of equipment to put out the fire and evacuate the debris from the federal highway.
“On October 26, 2019, the Vanguard Newspapers reported that over 153 Nigerians died as a result of fuel tanker accidents from January 2019 to October 2019”.
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its Committees on FRSC and Interior to ensure compliance with the resolution.
Source: Vanguard
