A petrol tanker accident in the early hours of Friday caused a massive fuel spill and heavy traffic disruption along the Kaduna–Zaria highway near Jaji in Kaduna State.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in a statement posted on X on Saturday, confirmed that the crash occurred on October 31, 2025, reportedly due to the tanker driver’s impatience.
According to NEMA, the Head of its Kaduna Operations Office, Mallam Suleiman Muhammad, immediately deployed the agency’s Emergency Response Team after receiving the distress alert.
The Search and Rescue Unit arrived at the scene where officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had already begun initial response efforts.
The agency noted that the FRSC, led by Kaduna Sector Commander Tijjani Iliyasu, “successfully supervised the safe evacuation of the tanker’s contents into another truck provided for the operation, thereby averting a potential disaster.”
The accident resulted in significant gridlock on both lanes of the busy highway, prompting authorities to divert motorists through Amana, Mai Madaci, and Turunku communities.
“NEMA, FRSC, security agencies, and other stakeholders worked collaboratively to ensure public safety and ease traffic congestion,” the statement added, urging motorists to remain calm and adhere to traffic instructions as normal flow gradually returned.
The crash comes less than two weeks after a devastating tanker explosion in Niger State claimed 45 lives and injured several others in Essa community, Katcha Local Government Area.
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