NIGERIA – Twenty-seven days after the fuel tanker explosion occurred at Dikko Junction near Suleja in Niger State, survivors and families of those who died in the accident have alleged short-change in the distribution of food items released for their succour by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
They accused officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) of stage-managing the exercise and giving each beneficiary only two “mudus” (local measurement size) of rice and beans (altogether 18 cups) of the two items as against a bag each they were promised at the flag-off ceremony.
On January 18, 2025, the fuel tanker loaded with 60,000 litres of petrol fell at the Dikko junction near Suleja, where the residents stormed to collect the spilled content. The tanker later exploded, resulting in the death of 92 victims. Several others, who were wounded were rushed to three tertiary hospitals on the order of President Tinubu.
Meanwhile, sources within the various committees raised by the state government on the Dikko tanker disaster have revealed to news sources that 114 people have so far died from the explosion as against the 92 deaths recorded on the day of the incident.
It was gathered that most of the victims taken to the National Hospital in Abuja and the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) did not survive. The only survivors were the two admitted at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, who the management said had been discharged.
One of the sources put the figure of those who died in the hospitals at 22.
The aggrieved beneficiaries of the presidential relief materials brought to the Dikko Primary Healthcare Centre by NEMA for distribution to the families of the victims and survivors claimed that after the NEMA director-general flagged off the event, they were taken to the clinic section of the health centre for the items to be shared.
According to them, they were shocked when the officials said that each beneficiary would be given a “mudu” of rice and a “mudu” of beans as against one bag of rice and a bag of beans the NEMA boss had told them.
Some of the families told a news source that NEMA brought the emergency materials to them on January 20, 2025, two days after the explosion.
It was learnt that the relief materials comprised 200 bags of 25 kg of rice and another 200 bags of maize of the same size, 50 cartons of vegetable oil, 20 cartons of maggi, 20 cartons of tomato paste and 20 bags of salt.
They alleged that all the items were handed over to NEMA coordinating officials and their colleagues in the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA).
There were also medical items such as drips, iodine, gloves and analgesics, which were distributed to hospitals in Dikko, Suleja, Tafa and Maje to help in the emergency operations.
Some families of the victims who claimed that they protested the sharing of the grains to them in “mudus” alleged that the officials insisted that the distribution was done transparently.
A member of one of the victims’ families in Dikko who preferred anonymity claimed that her sister sustained first degree burnt but after putting her name down she did not benefit from the relief materials.
Another member of a victim’s family Mohammed Adamu however said he got half of a 25kg bag of rice and maize each.
Similarly, a victim whose shops were razed down and lost his wares, Jibrin Abubakar, said his destroyed goods were worth over N23 million, stressing that a 25 kg bag of rice would not assuage his condition.
At the NEMA coordinating office in Minna, the Niger State capital, no official of the agency was on ground to speak on the distribution of the relief materials but the public relations officer of NSEMA Ibrahim Hussein confirmed that the items were distributed to the victims in collaboration with the community leaders and the two agencies.
He said based on the need of the victims, some got a bag of each of the items while others who were grouped into three shared two bags, adding that the distribution was transparently conducted.
At the headquarters of NEMA in Abuja, the management debunked the allegations that its officials failed to share the approved quantity of the food and medical items including, rice and beans to victims of Dikko fuel tanker explosion in Niger State.
NEMA was reacting to claims by some residents of the community that despite its DG’s promise that each family of the affected victims would get a bag of rice and beans, her officials only gave them a “mudu” of rice and beans each.
By Damilola Adeleke| February 15, 2025.
Adeleke Damilola (ACTION) is a versatile content writer with expertise in news writing and a seasoned media professional and broadcast specialist. Currently serving as News Editor for DNews Info, Damilola is also the CEO of the ACTION brand, committed to shaping lives and establishing a legacy of excellence for present and future generations.
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