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…This place could have become history –Community leader
From Jude Dangwam, Jos
Residents of Vwei, popular known as Mararaban Jama’a, the gateway to Jos, the Plateau State capital, will not in a hurry forget God’s intervention on December 19, 2023 when an incoming tanker loaded with petroleum products skidded off the road at the roundabout. This lead to fire outbreak that affected business owners who are still counting their loses and calling for help.
The Ward Head of Vwei, Da. Stephen Davou Baga, said the community could have become history by now if the content of the taker was fuel, especially with the absence of a fire station around the busy gateway for quick response.
It was gathered that the tanker was heading to Maiduguri, Borno State before the unfortunate incident as nine others had proceeded, leaving it behind.
“What happened on Tuesday morning, December 19, 2023 was not a small thing. We can only thank God because it could have been devastating if it where a fuel tanker.
“The tanker was coming from Abuja Road and the driver negotiated the bend with a little speed. The tanker skidded off the road and the content overflew on the surrounding.
“There were traders by the roadside already that morning. Some were selling their goods while some were frying things and the oil spilled over. Thank God it wasn’t patrol, it could have exploded and we won’t have been talking by now. Houses here could have been no more, but thank God it was a crude oil, and also not gas.
“The driver told us that this is his first time of plying the road, and that they were 10 in number. Nine tankers had passed already with the same content to Maiduguri and he was the last one heading to the same destination,” Baga explained
The inferno was as a result of the fire from women frying akara by the roundabout, which the crude oil came in contact with while flowing through the gutters. An emergency meeting at the instance of the community leader with traders, leadership of NURTW and security agencies was held and some measures taken to ensure that such incident never occurred again.
The recent tanker accident at the roundabout is said to be the third incident involving big trucks in 2023 within the vicinity. A situation, they said, called for action.
Mararaban Jama’a roundabout has over the years continued to be a serious nightmare to road users, particularly trucks drivers while coming down from the sloppy Abuja road to the roundabout. Some of the drivers lose control due to brake failure or not being conversant with the unique Plateau’s topography of hills and valleys, with some dangerous bends.
A witness, Mr. Joel Ezekiel, told Daily Sun that there is need for the construction of an overhead bridge, which he strongly believes will serve as as the best solution to the regular accidents.
“I was standing and saw how the driver was struggling with the tanker. I started telling people to run away and suddenly the tanker skidded. When I pulled the diver out, he said the brake of the vehicle failed and he thought of passing straight but he saw too many people and vehicles there so he decided to just negotiate the roundabout.
“You know, while coming down from Abuja road, is a sloppy path down to this roundabout. And if your brake fails just as in the case of this tanker driver just made up your mind on anything happening.
“Right from Science School, Kuru the road is sloppy. So many trucks with malfunctioning brake from there will just be coming down unstoppable. So, there is the need to have a flyover here so that bigger trucks coming from Abuja road will just pass on the bridge while smaller cars will always negotiate the roundabout,” he advised.
Mr. Abubakar Ahmed Musa, a driver at the Abuja Park by the roundabout, suggested that there is the need for a fire service station at the Mararaban Jama’a to avoid any form of delay to emergency responses to fire outbreak.
“Mararaban Jama’a is very strategic. This is the gateway to the state capital, and has been recording series of accidents involving trucks and tankers. You can see how the landscaping of the roundabout looks bad because of accidents. Thank God that this state government is rehabilitating the roundabout after so many years. We should have a fire station here to respond to fire incidents.
“Imagine if this tanker was carrying fuel and fire burst out here, you have to wait for fire service to come down to this place from Bukuru expressway or inside Jos, the state capital. They have to look into this with all seriousness. Thank God the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) stations its ambulance here but they equally need a sub-station here,” he suggested.
A single mother of four, Mrs. Precious Shangmaha Yakubu, who has been operating an eatery by the roundabout for years and one Hamisu Abdullahi (Mai Kifi) were badly affected by the fire outbreak from the tanker accident.
Yakubu said: “Seriously, I need help from kind hearted Nigerians. All my property here: my pots, coolers, plates and raw were all burnt down.
“Our daily struggles around this roundabout is full of fears despite being caution all the time because anything can happen just like this. It is from my effort here that I feed my children, clothe them, pay their school fees and pay house rent. I have four children and we are not together with my husband again.”
Abdullahi (Mai Kifi), a father of three, who narrowly escape being burned by the fire, said the unfortunate incident has brought so much pain on his life as both his parents, siblings, wife and children feed from his daily struggles at the roundabout selling fried fish.
He said: “I was trying to separate ice fish inside the shop but little did I know an accident had occured. I only realized that people were running, only for me to come out confused to the point a Sharon car hit and I saw fire already in the shop.
“My table, bench other working tools and the fish despite being iced were all burnt. Now my business is completely down, the fish I brought that day on credit burnt. We do pay after sales and whatever little profit we is our own. After paying for the old supply, you pick another one. And by so doing, I take care of my parents, brothers and my family. I have one wife with three children.
“With what has happened now, I don’t know what to do. If any help will come my way, it will be appreciated because I have to pay for that fish first before they can give me another one.”
Abednego Ayuba, a student of Plateau State Polytechnic Barkin-Ladi, who also operates commercial motorcycle, popularly known as Okada to support his education, said life at the roundabout has been a serious risk and a danger for him and his colleagues.
“Our daily activities here have been protected by God. We move around with our hearts in our mouth because anything can happen at any given time and you might be caught in between. Seriously speaking, this roundabout is very risky; it is dangerous I must tell you.”
He explained how some of his colleagues had accidents at the roundabout following the slippery content of the tanker that overflow on the roundabout. “The content of the tanker looks like crude oil. It is slippery and a lot of our people fell down here on that day the accident happened. You can still see the crude on the roundabout, it keeps disturbing our tyres,” he lamented.
A witness, Mr. Oscar Awuru, who is an officer of the NURTW Mararaban Jama’a Abuja Park is of the position that the roundabout is an old design and should be reduced to create more space for the time being before the dualization.
Baga further called on both the state and the federal governments to find a lasting solution to the accidents. He said: “Let the government come out with strategy to see how we can mitigate these accidents, especially from Abuja road. That is where we do have problem.
“We were told during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration that the road will be dualized. They even came and took some measurements and relocated some people. We are hoping that President Bola Tinubu will continue with the project because if the road is dualized, the accidents will be reduced to the barest minimum.”
