The youth wing of apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, to reactivate the moribund Enugu depot.
The call came in reaction to the tragic incident at the Ugwuonyeama section of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, which claimed over 20 lives.
A fuel-laden tanker was reported to have lost control and smashed several vehicles before going up in flames.
In a statement issued on Monday by Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, the National President of Ohanaeze Youth Council Worldwide, he described the number of casualties as heartbreaking.
Okwu claimed it served as a sobering reminder of the perils fuel tankers pose on Nigerian highways and the poor quality of the majority of the country’s roads.
He noted that it was also a call to action for the NNPCL to put the Enugu depot to use and save tanker drivers from much stress.
As everyone knows, despite requests from oil marketers for the NNPCL to take into consideration reactivating the Enugu depot, it has been dormant for a number of years.
“Apart from adding to the cost of fuel in our zone, the movement of the product all the way from Lagos and Port Harcourt does no one any good.
“The Saturday incident is one of such avoidable movements; the fully loaded vehicle was descending the deadly hill when it lost control.
“We hereby make a strong request that the NNPCL immediately begin operations at the Enugu depot.”
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Okwu also urged the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure a speedy completion of the second lane of the Expressway, stressing that “the casualty figure would have been less if the lanes were in use.
“Whatever is delaying that project should be resolved; the contractor and the government should resolve whatever difference they have in the interest of the general public.”
The Ohanaeze youths commiserated with the families of victims of the accident and prayed God to grant their souls eternal rest.
“We are aware that some families were wiped out by that accident. It is heartbreaking, we are sorrowful, but all we can say now is may God accept their souls. This is too much,” Okwu lamented.
