Residents Scooping Fuel As Tanker Crashes In Kwara

Danger may currently be lurking in Osin
community in Ilorin East Local Government Area
of Kwara State as residents of the settlement are
scrambling to scoop fuel spilled in the area after
a fuel tanker crashed on Saturday.
A resident of the village, who made a desperate
call to PUNCH Online on Saturday, feared that
the worst might happen if concerned authorities
failed to respond to their calls urgently.
The resident, a male(name withheld), alleged
that four days ago, there was an accident in the
community, located along the Ilorin-Jebba Road,
saying the State Emergency Management
Agency, which promised to come to the scene,
failed to show up.
“Today again, this morning, a fuel tanker crashed
some minutes ago; its content is currently
spilling around and people are scooping fuel in
the area. We have called the same management
agency but as I’m talking to you now, they
(members of the agency) have not shown up,
though they promised they would come,” says
the resident.
“There is still fuel in the tanker that had an
accident in this place four days ago, it has not
been evacuated. If any place goes up in flame
around this area, every body will be in trouble.”
Our correspondent called Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba,
the Chief Press Secretary to Governor
Abdulfattah Ahmed, who promised to call on
relevant agencies to race to the scene and put
the situation under control.

Senate President David Mark and former Lagos State Governor and a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Friday held separate closed-door meetings with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The meetings were held at Obasanjo’s Hilltop residence in Abeokuta.

Both Mark and Tinubu said the issues discussed bordered on the state of the nation.

Tinubu came ahead of Mark. Emerging from the venue of the meeting, he said he had discussion with Obasanjo on “some of his former boys” who would vie for elective positions in the 2015 general elections, especially the Presidency.

He said, “We are here to pay homage to our former President and discuss with him because he has a number of influences in the political sphere.

“We need to talk to find out his thinking about Nigeria and the future. We need to seek his observation on some of his former boys who are running for Presidency in our party.”

He, however, said there was nothing worth celebrating about Nigeria’s 54th independence anniversary since the country remained “an invalid baby in incubator.”

Mark who arrived the Hilltop residence at about 2.0pm left around 3.45pm.

He also described Obasanjo as the father of the nation with a wealth of experience.

The Senate President told journalists after the meeting that he had come with his team, including Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; the Peoples Democratic Party Women Leader, Mrs. Josephine Anenih; and Senator Polycarp Nwite, among others to discuss with the former President and raise some basic issues that affect both the party and the nation.

He said, “We discussed issues that will move Nigeria forward because Chief Obasanjo’s love for Nigeria is unquantifiable. So, we had a good discussion with him.”