Tanker Drivers under the aegis of Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have commended the leadership of the union over the sensitization programme it held in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) for tanker drivers in Lagos last week.
Tanker Drivers under the aegis of Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have commended the leadership of the union over the sensitization programme it held in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) for tanker drivers in Lagos last week.
The PTD members who spoke with Shipping Position Daily after the training programme which held in Orile, Lagos last week, commended the NUPENG President, Comrade Igwe Achese, the PTD National chairman, Comrade Salimon Oladiti and the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi for teaming together to put a stop to tanker accidents on highways.
A PTD member from Ibeto Unit, Comrade Chris Iyasere said that the training is long overdue, even as he admitted that there was need to check the excesses of some drivers of petroleum tankers.
He acknowledged that for a long time, there has not been a seminar to sensitize tanker drivers on the need for safe driving in order to reduce the incessant accidents involving tankers and the attendant damage which is always colossal.
According to him, at the sensitization programme last week, the FRSC educated drivers on the need to drive safely on the highway, and not to drink while driving.
According to the FRSC, after the maiden edition of the training in Lagos last week, the training will be taken to other locations across Nigeria, including Ogere in Ogun State, Ilorin, Suleja, Abuja and Kaduna. From here, the train is expected to move down to Port Harcout, Calabar, back to Warri and finally Benin.
Sharing his experience at the training, Comrade Iyasere told our correspondent that, "FRSC have agreed to stop tankers on the road in order to check if they are under influence of alcohol, and if that is the case they will be arrested, put in a cooler until they regain their senses so that they dont go and kill innocent people anyhow"
"They conducted eye test for us, they checked our blood pressure, and we were all registered to ensure that we meet the required standard. They have also devised a tracking system to monitor trucks that are overspending or violating the law" he said.
The FRSC have also promised to bring on board speed device to check unnecessary speeding by trucks.
Also speaking with our correspondent to commend the NUPENG/FRSC partnership, Comrade Lukman Adedotun at NIPCO Unit of the union commended FRSC over the speed limit devices which the agency has promised to introduce by September 2015.
Comrade Lukman lamented that the union has lost many of her members to ghastly accident on Nigeria roads.
"Because of the accidents taking place on the roads by tanker drivers, they are educating us on how to put all the motors in order, I think this is very necessary"
He also lamented the challenge of ‘area boys’ waylaying trucks on the roads, even as he advised that LASTMA officials should be put on check and educated on the need to gently approach tanker drivers when they are on motion.
"We had an agreement with road safety to test those driving under the influence of alcohol, and there won't be selling of alcohol around the tank farms"
"It is worthy to praise our leadership because such a good step has not been taken in the past, when you think you know everything, you will find out that you are a novice in some area, it is better you are encouraged to do more" he said.
Reps to Investigate JTF Over Destruction of Equipment Used By Illegal Refineries
The House of Representatives has resolved to setup an ad-hoc committee to investigate the activities of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta area regarding the burning and destruction of equipment seized from operators of illegal refineries.
The House also mandated the ad-hoc committee, when constituted, to investigate the activities of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) with a view to ensuring that it carries out improvement of its facilities to forestall any fire outbreak incident in the future and also determine the circumstance that led to the death of 14 people in Azuzuama community occasioned by the incident.
In a motion entitled: "Urgent Need to Bring an End to the Despoliation of the Niger Delta Environment Through the Burning of Equipment Confiscated From Illegal Operators of Refineries," moved by Hon. Douye Diri, Hon. Leo Ogor and 12 others at plenary last week, the joint sponsors noted that the JTF was set up in 2004 to protect pipelines, prevent the operation of illegal refineries and generally maintain peace, law and order in the Niger Delta.
They said that the communities in the area suffer from effects of burning and destruction of oil equipment seized from operators of illegal oil refineries as the exercise was not done according to global best practices, adding that it has greatly polluted the environment.
The motion also noted that the fire outbreak in Azuzuama community in Bayelsa State on July 9, 2015, was as a result of the use of dilapidated infrastructure and equipment by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, an incident that led to the death of 14 persons.
The motion which was unanimously supported by the House also resolved that the ad-hoc committee would determine steps taken by the JTF in conjunction with other relevant agencies such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency (NOSDRA) to forestall further degradation of the Niger Delta land.
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