Another tanker explosion has claimed seven lives in Niger state barely two months after a similar incident killed over 100 in another part of the state.
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Abdullahi Baba Arah, disclosed this Friday in a statement issued in Minna.
“NSEMA is in receipt of a tanker explosion that occurred in Karamin Rami village of Mashegu local government area,” he said, adding that the incident occurred on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, around 6:30pm.
The statement read in part, “As of the time of filing in this report, seven lives had been lost with one person injured. The tanker truck was trying to manoeuvre its way due to bad roads without shoulders. It fell and its content (PMS) flew to a nearby stream where dry season farmers were working in their rice field.”
It indicated further that the tanker content came in contact with the farmers’ water pump that was pumping water and caught fire which went back to the tanker, and caused the explosion.
“The inferno came back to the farm land through the already contaminated stream water and burnt some of the farmers and the whole rice field, including fruits and vegetables.”
The statement listed the deceased farmers to include Rafiatu sahabi; Ramlat Shehu; Rashida Abdullahi; Raliya Abdulrahaman; Zainab Ahmed; ZuwairaIdrisu, and Maryam A. Nura, while Maimuna Isah survived with injuries.
According to the statement, the injured woman has been receiving treatment at Saho Rami Primary Health Care.