The House of Representatives on Wednesday called for an immediate intervention on the deplorable Bida–Agaie–Lapai–Lambata–Diko Road in Niger State following a recent tragic tanker explosion at Essa Village in Katcha Local Government Area, which claimed over 30 lives and left scores injured.
The call followed a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by Saidu Abdullahi (APC, Niger) during plenary.
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He described the road as a “death corridor” that has become notorious for fatal accidents, recurring tanker explosions, and crippling gridlocks.
Tuesday’s tragedy
On Tuesday, a petrol-laden tanker lost control and exploded at Essa Village, leaving more than 30 people dead and over 40 others severely injured.
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The inferno destroyed several vehicles, shops, motorcycles, and livestock, while consuming perishable goods worth millions of naira.
Eyewitnesses said many victims were trapped as the fire spread rapidly through a roadside market.
Emergency workers and volunteers battled for hours to extinguish the fire and evacuate victims. Those injured were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Bida, and other nearby hospitals.
The tragedy has reignited public outrage over the deplorable state of the Bida–Agaie–Lapai–Lambata–Diko corridor, one of Niger State’s busiest highways and a major link between the North-central region and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
A decaying road
Moving the motion, Mr Abdullahi said the Essa Village explosion was not an isolated incident but part of a pattern of deadly accidents that have occurred along the corridor in recent months.
He recalled that the road has remained in poor shape for decades despite successive contracts for its rehabilitation.
“The continuous neglect of this road has turned it into a graveyard for our people,” he said. “Lives, goods, and livelihoods are lost almost every week, yet the road remains impassable,” he said.
Mr Abdullahi expressed concern that although the rehabilitation of the road was once included under the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, a public-private partnership initiative allowing corporate entities to fund critical road projects in exchange for tax relief, the project had since stalled following the federal government’s recent announcement suspending NNPC’s intervention on roads.
“The suspension has thrown several projects, including this critical Niger corridor, into uncertainty and execution limbo,” he added.
The lawmaker stressed that the road is vital not just to Niger State but to Nigeria’s economic network, linking agricultural zones to markets in Abuja and the South.
“The gridlock, accidents, and tanker explosions have crippled economic activity, destroyed goods, and caused immeasurable hardship to our people,” Mr Abdullahi lamented.
He urged the federal government to take decisive action, saying continued inaction undermines both public confidence and national productivity.
House resolutions
Following his presentation, the House adopted Mr Abdullahi’s motion and resolved to urge the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to immediately mobilise contractors and commence full rehabilitation and expansion of the road, with special focus on the Bida–Agaie section where the explosion occurred.
The House also mandated the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other relevant agencies to strengthen enforcement of road safety standards for petroleum tankers and heavy-duty trucks, ensuring compliance with roadworthiness and safe loading procedures.
It called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide victims and their families with medical assistance and relief materials.
The committees on Works, FERMA, FRSC, and Finance are expected to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the road, review all previous contractual and financing arrangements, and report back within two weeks for further legislative action.
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Years of neglect on the road
The Bida–Agaie–Lapai–Lambata–Diko highway has been the subject of multiple federal contracts dating back more than two decades, yet no administration has completed the project.
In 2021, the Buhari administration announced plans to reconstruct the road under the NNPC Tax Credit Scheme, with work expected to commence immediately, but progress has since stalled.
However, in January alone, Niger State witnessed no fewer than four tanker explosions that claimed over 100 lives.
On 18 January, a devastating explosion in Dikko town killed more than 70 people, followed shortly by two separate incidents along the Lapai–Agaie road.
Another tanker explosion occurred in February, leaving widespread destruction and property losses running into millions of naira.
