■Many killed, vehicles, houses destroyed as petrol tanker wreaks havoc

By OLUSEYE OJO, Ibadan

… Ajimobi commiserates with victims’ families

Scores of people were on Saturday evening roasted by fuel fire that engulfed Molete area of Ibadan in Oyo State.

A truck carrying fuel, it was gathered, fell at the popular Molete Under- Bridge at about 9p.m and spilt its content on the road. The fuel connected the nearby drainage and trav­elled a long distance before it caught fire.

Checks by Daily Sun re­vealed that many roadside traders, passersby, com­mercial motorcyclists, mo­torists and others in the vi­cinity at the time, suddenly saw themselves on fire.

Eyewitnesses said a pregnant woman and her child as well as a mother and her two children were among the victims of the inferno.

The fuel tanker, accord­ing to reports, was com­ing from Challenge end of Molete before it had a brake failure. The driver reportedly lost control of the tanker before it rammed into a pole, which led to the tragedy.

Some football lovers were said to be discussing the loss of Nigeria to Sudan by one goal in the first leg of the Africa Confederation Cup qualifiers under the bridge when the fire disas­ter began.

Also, the inferno was said to have been cruel to many people who ran into nearby shops for cover, roasting them with the shops.

The driver of the tanker, according to eyewitnesses, was also killed in the ram­paging fire.

He was said to be shout­ing brake failure in order to alert the people to the im­pending danger before the accident occurred.

A man, who introduced himself as Adekunle Ayin­la, said but for the timely intervention of a combined team of fire fighters and se­curity operatives, the trage­dy would have been worse.

Meanwhile, the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has described the inferno, which resulted in the death of an unspeci­fied number of persons, as another sad chapter in the history of the state despite the untiring efforts of the present administration to forestall the occurrence of such incidents in all parts of the state.

The APC, in a state­ment issued by its Director of Publicity and Strategy, Olawale Sadare, said the Molete inferno was not only unfortunate but also devastating in view of the fact that Oyo State “at the moment has a government which prioritises every pro-active measure required to guarantee the safety and well-being of the people ir­respective of their status or background.”

“It is most unfortunate that a disaster of this mag­nitude can befall our dear state again after the admin­istration of Senator Abiola Ajimobi had left no one in doubt of its passion for a disaster-free, violence-free and crime-free society. We take this as an act of God even as we share in the agony of the victims and members of their family,” the statement added

Meanwhile, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has commiserated with families of those who lost their lives in an in­ferno at the Molete area of Ibadan, the state capital, praying that God will give them the fortitude to bear the loss.

A tanker had somer­saulted last Saturday night beside the Molete Bridge, discharging its content in the process and went into flame, which resulted in the death of many people, many of whom were road­side traders.

Governor Ajimobi, who arrived at about 8 am, was conducted round the scene of the inferno by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kola Sodipo.

The governor ordered that a crane be brought im­mediately to take the car­cass of the tanker that had caused gridlock to allow for free traffic flow.

Speaking with journal­ists, Ajimobi commiserated with the families of the de­ceased and urged them to take solace in the fact that death would come when it would.

He said many who sought to take political ad­vantage of his administra­tion’s genuine love for the people of the state, espe­cially street traders, must have seen the danger of politicising sincere govern­ment policies.