Residents of Bida town in Niger State, have been reported to be scooping groundnut oil after a tanker overturned near Shafa filling station in the Esso area.

According to community sources who spoke said the incident occurred on Tuesday morning, just three days after the deadly tanker explosion on Dikko-Maje Road, near Badeggi filling station in Suleja Local Government Area, which resulted in the loss of 98 lives.

Reports indicate that those gathered to collect the spilling fuel were caught in an explosion, which also impacted those trying to assist the victims.

The fire spread across a large area, leaving behind charred remains and widespread destruction.

The explosion is said to have occurred around 9:00 am while efforts were underway to transfer PMS from the overturned tanker to another vehicle.

Despite the recent tragic incident in Suleja Local Government Area, people are seen on Tuesday morning in Bida around a fallen truck with jerry cans and buckets collecting the spilled groundnut oil near a filling station in the town.

“The oil is not fuel as people earlier claimed. It is groundnut oil. Maybe people first mistook it for fuel because the place is close to a filling station. But the tanker indeed fell,” a community source said.

“The tanker in Bida was not carrying petrol but groundnut oil,” the source added.

As at the time of this publication by Trustbase News the Niger Police Command Spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, have not commented on the incident.

Despite several attempts to contact him on Tuesday morning, his phone remained unreachable.