The Residents of Abonema community in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, Rivers State have called on the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to monitor the activities of tanker drivers in the area in order to prevent fire outbreaks.
Recall that fire had broken out in the area, destroying property worth millions of Naira near a tank farm in Abonema Wharf.
The Mayor of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, Alwell Ihunda, who visited the scene of the fire incident had said shanties in the area would be demolished.
However, speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt, the Chairman of the community, Taiwo Benson, said the Abonema Wharf was not the cause of the fire.
According to him, tanker drivers load petroleum products above their limits and sold the extra to black marketers, which they store in their houses.
Benson appealed to NUPENG and other regulators to do more in monitoring the tanker drivers, especially at the point of loading.
He said, “The Abonema Wharf road is where those tankers load from a tank farm. And you know we are Rivers people, apart from being Rivers people, we are humans.
“Sometimes we see how those tankers line up there. Some of them when they load, instead of going direct to their stations. I don’t know how they loaded the extra ones for them.
“They will be scooping to sell. When they sell, if you go you see people who buy this fuel from them have small shops where they put some of those things inside.
“So, that is the cause of the fire. It is not Abonema Wharf.”
