Lagos – Two clerics, Msgr Gabriel Osu and Mr Lukmon Abdulraheem , on Wednesday called for the reduction in the number of petroleum tankers plying the nation’s roads.

They said this would reduce the incessant incidents of explosion and accidents caused by the tankers’ menace.

A tanker laden with Petrol had, on May 31, crashed into a busy market in Onitsha, Anambra, where 46 lives were lost, properties running into several millions of naira burnt while many others suffered various degrees of injury.

The tanker which exploded following a crash was caused by a brake failure while in transit.

Also a similar incidents happened at Idimu, Lekki and Iyana-Ipaja in Lagos State, in Ipetu-Ijesha, Osun, and Onitsha and in 9th Mile-corner in Enugu State.

Msgr. Gabriel Osu, the Director of Social Communication, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, urged the Federal Government to ensure that positive measures were put in place to revive the nation’s pipelines.

“By reviving the pipelines, the number of fuel tankers on the road especially on the highways will be reduced.

“Optimal use of the pipelines will mean that tankers do not have to travel very far again to supply petroleum products after loading at the depot.

Osu, however, said that lack of proper training for tanker drivers and bad roads contributed to the number of accidents involving tankers on Nigerian roads.

“Anybody with a sound mind will be sad, I am not surprise this is happening, most of the tankers are rickety, they are not roadworthy and the drivers are not trained.

“The roads are not good, everything from the roads down to the tanker drivers are of low quality and many of the drivers are hooked on to hard drugs including take Indian hemp,’’ Osu said.

Mr Lukmon Abdulraheem, a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, said that the over concentration of fuel depots in one place had over stretched the roads leaving them in deplorable state.

Abdulraheem, a religious leader, however, urged tanker owners to ensure that their vehicles were constantly maintained to prevent such ugly occurrences in the future.