TheCable Fact Check
  • Home
  • Fact Check
  • Fake News
  • Check Am For Wazobia
Reading: FACT CHECK: Seun Kuti claims there’s fuel tanker explosion every week in Nigeria; is this true?
Share
Latest News
MISINFO ALERT: Video of man shot by operative over ‘N5k bribe’ is from 2019, says customs
How to protect yourself from misinformation, disinformation in the AI age
FACT CHECK: Did Ibrahim Traore cancel Burna Boy’s proposed Burkina Faso concert?
CableCheck wins IFCN global fact check fund
Íhé ńgósị́ ébé Peter Obi sékpù àlà n’íhú Tinubu bụ̀ ǹkè é jìrì AI nwóghàrị̀á
Hoton Peter Obi ya durkusa ma Tinubu a Rome na hadi ne
Foto wey show as Peter Obi dey kneel down for Tinubu inside Vatican na photoshop
Peter Obi kò kúnlẹ̀ fún Tinubu ní Rome
Advertisement
Aa
TheCable Fact CheckTheCable Fact Check
Search
  • Home
  • Fact Check
  • Fake News
  • Check Am For Wazobia
Follow US

FACT CHECK: Seun Kuti claims there’s fuel tanker explosion every week in Nigeria; is this true?

Wasilat Azeez
By Wasilat Azeez Published July 9, 2021 5 Min Read
Share

On June 27, Seun Kuti, Afrobeat singer and son of the late music legend Fela Kuti, said Nigeria has witnessed at least one fuel tanker explosion every week in 2021.

He made the claim while speaking on a programme on Channels Television.

“Every week this year, we have had a tanker explosion. Let me just use the tanker explosions as an instance of how the press and professionals of Nigeria continue to fail the people. Every week this year, one tanker has exploded in one place in Nigeria,” Kuti said.

“To the extent that one tanker even exploded right in the city of Ikeja in front of Sheraton Hotel, killed people and destroyed businesses there. You will never hear the media say: ‘Billionaire owners of tankers are killing Nigerians or ‘Billionaire tanker owners are terrorists’. You will never hear that.”

VIDEO: Every week this year, there has been a tanker explosion says Seun Kuti

📹 ~ @channelstv #RubbinMinds #TheCableLifestyle pic.twitter.com/qrFUVXVKY6

— CableLifestyle (@CableLifestyle) July 9, 2021

HOW TRUE IS THE MUSICIAN’S CLAIM?

Fire outbreaks tend to be one of the most dangerous disasters because they often end in loss of lives and property.

TheCable analysed media reports of fuel tanker explosions in Nigeria since the year began.

JANUARY

January 7 – A tanker, loaded with premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol, caught fire at Toyota bus stop along Oshodi-Apapa expressway in Lagos.

January 19 – Three persons were confirmed dead and others injuried in a tanker explosion  in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital.

January 23 – A gas tanker explosion in Agbor, Delta state killed a woman and three children while severely burning 11 others.

FEBRUARY

February 7 – 11 people, including three Almajiri children, were killed in an oil tanker explosion that occurred in Gawu area of Abaji LGA of Abuja.

February 11 – No fewer than four people were killed in a fuel tanker explosion at SOBAZ filling station in Oyigbo LGA of Rivers state.

February 12– A truck driver was burnt to death in a diesel tanker explosion at Atoyo, along Ijebu Ode-Ogbere expressway in Ogun.

MARCH

March 21 – Many vehicles were burnt in a diesel tanker explosion at Otedola Bridge on Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

March 27– Petrol tanker collided with a truck at Otedola Bridge on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, causing an explosion which gutted seven vehicles.

APRIL

April 13 – Many people injured in a gas tank explosion which rocked Amuwo-Odofin LGA of Lagos state.

April 18 – A fuel tanker exploded at Oshigbudu community in Agatu LGA of Benue state, killing 13 people and over 50 houses were said to have been razed.

April 20  – Barely 48 hours after the April 18 incident which claimed many lives, another petrol-laden tanker exploded in the same Benue community.

MAY

May 22 –  At least 64 persons were reported to have sustained various degrees of injuries as a petrol tanker exploded at the Al-ihsan filling station at Sharada in Kano municipal area of Kano state.

May 25 – No deaths and zero properties destroyed as a diesel-laden tanker went up in flames at Banire bus-stop, Egbeda inward Ikotun, Lagos.

May 28 –  A tanker conveying petrol caught fire at the Otedola Bridge on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, but there were no casualties.

JUNE

June 16 –  Seven people died while two persons sustained injuries in a petrol tanker explosion at Ajilete axis of the Owode-Idiroko road in Ogun.

June 17 – The explosion of a leaking gas tanker at the Ogun State Property Investment Company (OPIC) Plaza beside Sheraton Hotel, Mobolaji Bank Anthony way, Ikeja, resulted in the death of five people, burnt 24 vehicles, while 13 other persons sustained injuries.

June 22 – Six tankers, five trucks, and two cars were destroyed in a fuel tanker explosion at Romona trailer park, Ogere axis of Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The data shows that there have been 17 tanker explosions across different states of the country in six months.

TheCable reached out to Kuti to ask for the source of his claim but he did not respond to calls and messages.

VERDICT: Kuti’s claim that fuel tanker explosions have occurred every week in 2021 is misleading. While there has been an uptick in explosions in recently, the incidents did not happen every week. It can be said that Kuti’s claim is an exaggerated statement that was uttered on the spur of the moment.

TAGGED: explosion, petrol, Seun Kuti, tanker

Please send your feedback, claims to fact check and corrections requests to [email protected]

Wasilat Azeez July 9, 2021 July 9, 2021
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Email Copy Link Print
Leave a comment Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

POPULAR POSTS

Advertisement

MISINFO ALERT: Video of man shot by operative over ‘N5k bribe’ is from 2019, says customs

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reacted to a viral video showing its operatives implicated…

June 5, 2025

How to protect yourself from misinformation, disinformation in the AI age

The internet has made life somewhat easier, right? You want to read the news and…

June 4, 2025

FACT CHECK: Did Ibrahim Traore cancel Burna Boy’s proposed Burkina Faso concert?

There are reports that Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso’s military leader, has cancelled Afrofusion star Burna…

June 3, 2025

CableCheck wins IFCN global fact check fund

CableCheck, the fact-checking initiative of the Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), has been awarded the…

May 30, 2025
Advertisement
Advertisement

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

MISINFO ALERT: Video of man shot by operative over ‘N5k bribe’ is from 2019, says customs

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reacted to a viral video showing its operatives implicated in the shooting of a…

Exclusives & FeaturesFact Check
June 5, 2025

How to protect yourself from misinformation, disinformation in the AI age

The internet has made life somewhat easier, right? You want to read the news and keep abreast of happenings around…

Fact CheckTop Stories
June 4, 2025

FACT CHECK: Did Ibrahim Traore cancel Burna Boy’s proposed Burkina Faso concert?

There are reports that Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso’s military leader, has cancelled Afrofusion star Burna Boy's free concert in the…

Fact Check
June 3, 2025

CableCheck wins IFCN global fact check fund

CableCheck, the fact-checking initiative of the Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), has been awarded the BUILD 2025 grant by the…

Fact CheckTop Stories
May 30, 2025

CableCheck seeks to provide reliable tools and resources for readers to tackle the menace of fake and misleading materials constantly pushed into the public space from various sources. We monitor the accuracy of claims made in traditional and social media. We also provide a tracker to hold politicians and policymakers accountable for the plans and promises they make to the public. CableCheck is a project of the Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), supported by the MacArthur Foundation and implemented by TheCable newspaper.

Follow US: 

LINKS

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Non-Partisanship Policy
  • Funding
  • Correction Policy
© Copyright TheCable. All Rights reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?