No fewer than seven farmers have lost their lives, one bystander injured and property worth millions of naira destroyed, following a fuel tanker explosion in Karamin Rami village, Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State.
The victims were identified as Rafiatu Sahabi, Ramlat Shehu, Rashida Abdullahi, Raliya Abdulrahman, Zainab Ahmed, Zuwaira Idrisu, and Maryam A. Nura, all caught in the blast while working nearby.
As gathered, the incident occurred when the driver of the tanker attempted to maneuver through bad sections of road, but lost control of the truck.
The tanker overturned and released its contents onto the roadway, with the fuel seeping into a nearby stream where farmers were tending their rice fields during the dry season.
The leaked fuel reportedly made contact with a water pump being used by the farmers, sparking a fire that traced back to the tanker and triggered an explosion.
The fire spread across the polluted stream to the farmland, destroying farm produce including rice crops and fruit vegetation.
The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, confirmed the incident on Friday, providing details of the explosion’s cause and impact.
One woman, Maimuna Isah, sustained injuries and is currently receiving treatment at Saho Rami Primary Health Care Centre.
“NSEMA has received reports of a tanker explosion that occurred in Karamin Rami village, Mashegu Local Government Area, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at around 6:30 pm,” Baba-Arah stated, outlining the sequence of events and casualty figures.
