NOA Condemns Fuel Scooping from Fallen Tankers, Advocates Urgent Legislation

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has called on the National Assembly to urgently introduce and pass legislation explicitly criminalizing fuel scooping from fallen tankers, backed by deterrent penalties.

The appeal follows Monday’s incident at Liverpool Bridge in Apapa, Lagos State, where crowds rushed to collect spilled fuel from an overturned tanker. The agency condemned the act as reckless, criminal, and unacceptable in any modern society.

In a statement issued by Director of Communication and Media Bala Musa, NOA Director General Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu warned that fuel scooping poses an extreme and avoidable threat to human life, public safety, and national infrastructure. He stressed that the risks extend beyond those directly involved to motorists, nearby residents, emergency responders, and public assets.

Issa-Onilu highlighted NOA’s nationwide sensitisation campaigns on the hazards of fuel scooping and similar high-risk behaviours. He rejected attempts to attribute the practice to poverty, stating: “This is not poverty. Poverty does not take away people’s sense of judgement or their instinct for self-preservation. What we are witnessing is a conscious, reckless and criminal disregard for human life and public safety.”

He argued that public enlightenment must now be reinforced by robust legal and enforcement mechanisms to eradicate the deadly habit. Issa-Onilu urged Nigerians to collectively reject behaviours that repeatedly result in mass casualties and preventable deaths, reaffirming NOA’s commitment to intensifying value re-orientation and safety advocacy nationwide.

The Apapa incident underscores persistent safety challenges on Nigerian roads, where overturned fuel tankers have historically led to devastating explosions and loss of life when crowds attempt to scoop spilled petroleum products.