President Muhammadu Buhari has mourned the death of 23 Nigerians in the Kogi State tanker explosion on Wednesday.
The accident which occurred along Felele – Nataco axis of Abuja – Lokoja road involved five cars, one tanker, three tricycles and two motorcycles.
Some Kogi State Polytechnic students and primary school pupils were burned in the mishap.
Reacting, Buhari in a statement by his Spokesman, Garba Shehu said that the death of 23 people “represents another disturbing and saddening incident in the litany of tragedies that have befallen our country.”
He said, “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.”
He explained that many accidents are preventable if proper proactive and precautionary measures are put in place or properly observed as routine policies.”
Buhari regretted that Nigeria is a country that moves on whenever tragedies occur instead of taking preventive safety measures to forestall future calamities.”
He, therefore, called on 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 that “refusal to do the right thing can cause potential tragic problems that harm innocent people.”
“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.”
He also condoled with Kogi State government and the families of the victims of the tragedy.
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