Thirty-seven-year-old Ikechukwu Nwaji narrates to EDWARD NNACHI the pain of losing his brother, the late Jeremiah Nwaji of Abofia-Agbaja community, in the Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, and 10 members of the family, including wife and children, to the recent Enugu tanker fire
It is not difficult to notice moody and quiet people in your compound, while others gather in groups, eating and drinking. This is confusing; what’s happening here?
The gathering here in the compound concerns the burial of my father, which took place on January 30th and 31st, 2025. The wake was Thursday, January 30th, while the burial proper was Friday, January 31st. It is traditional in my community for people to meet and gather like this after a burial to appraise the perceived failure or success of the burial and also thank natives and relatives for lending their support during the event.
How did the mourning of your father degenerate into the mourning of 11 more persons?
It was during the preparation of our father’s burial that my elder brother, Mr Jeremiah Nwaji, and his family; his wife, six children, his maid, his male servant, and my younger brother, Emmanuel (11 of them) died. They were travelling in a Sienna bus from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Ebonyi State for the burial on Saturday, January 25th, 2025, when they were caught up in a tanker fire and burnt to death around 11am at the Ugwu Onyeama along Onitsha-Enugu Expressway, Enugu.
We learnt that a tanker loaded with premium motor spirit (petrol) skidded and exploded into flames of fire. They were burnt to ashes. I say this because when we got there on Sunday, what we saw and packed into a nylon bag were ashes and the burnt remnant of the Sienna bus. So, the gathering you are seeing here is the outcome of my father’s burial which was eventually held.
However, we buried the ashes packed at the scene of the explosion in Enugu; but we are still going to bury them properly as our tradition demands. My late elder brother and his wife are adults, and my younger brother is over 20 years old. But the others would be buried as children.
How old was your father before he died?
My father was 73 years old, while my mother is 68 years old. My late elder brother was 40 years old; he was my immediate elder brother.
How did you hear about the news of your family members’ death in the Enugu tanker fire?
He (my elder brother) told me he would be travelling that very day to Ebonyi State for our father’s burial, and we used to drive to Ebonyi State from Onitsha for three hours or three and a half hours depending on the traffic situation on the road. So, he told me he would leave Onitsha for Ebonyi State that very day around 10am. But my simple calculation was that he would be in Ebonyi State by 2pm or 2.30pm.
Expectedly, when I didn’t see them at 2pm that day, I picked up my phone and called his line, it was switched off. I called his wife’s line, but it was switched off; I called his boy servant’s phone number, but it was also not reachable. I then called my younger brother’s phone, his was also switched off. At this point, I became very uncomfortable, and I said this was unusual. So, from that very moment, I started wondering what the reason could be why his line, his wife’s, his servant’s phone, and that of my younger brothers were not available. I equally thought it was network issues.
Then I grabbed my phone again and started surfing the internet to see if I could find a trace of what could be happening within the South-East. Then I started hearing of a tanker explosion in Enugu, but I didn’t believe that until later in the night that day when I saw videos online and read it in the news. I couldn’t still believe it until the following day, which was on Sunday.
What action did you take after the news of the tanker explosion got to you?
As early as 6am on Sunday, I was already on my way to the Ugwu Onyeama area in Enugu, Enugu State. On reaching there, I saw the Sienna bus in which they were travelling, and I also saw their carcasses in the burnt vehicle. They were merely skeletons with heads and for the children, small heads but in ashes.
Some people who looked into the Sienna with me said they were roasted like goats or other domestic animals. But I told them those were my family members; my brothers, my elder brother’s wife, and others. They were about 11 people. To further confirm, I proceeded to Park Lane Hospital, Enugu that Sunday; my elder brother and others were not there. We went to other hospitals in Enugu to check if they were among the injured people, but we didn’t find them. Towards the evening of that Sunday, we met some road safety officials who confirmed that no occupant of the Sienna bus came out alive.
How did you feel when you realised that the Sienna bus in which your brother and his family members were travelling got burnt?
It’s still unexplainable how I felt. I felt speechless, downcast, destabilised, and confused. It’s a story for another day. It was traumatic to see the charred remains of my family members and their servants; it was devastating.
To remember that my elder brother, his wife, his children, my younger brother, my father’s maid, and boy servant are no more is the most horrible thing that could happen to anybody. It’s painful because I have not heard or seen it happen to anybody. I won’t even wish this to happen to my worst enemy.
Would you say this incident was an act of God or man-made?
I can’t believe it’s an act of God. This must be man-made no matter how you look at it. I don’t see any reason why God would decide to punish an entire family this way. For instance, the tanker was being driven by somebody, and while I was at Ugwu Onyeama, I saw where the driver could have entered in order to be out of the road to avoid the tanker fire, but he didn’t enter there.
Two days ago, I argued and told some people that tankers shouldn’t be allowed to ply during the day. This is what obtains in other countries that do not construct different lanes or routes for tankers to ply on. Why is the case of Nigeria different? Light vehicles should be allowed to move during the day, while heavy vehicles should move in the night.
Did you at any point feel the world is crumbling on you?
I’m a Christian, and I wouldn’t expressively say the world is crumbling on me. But there are no better ways to say this is how I currently feel or whether the world is falling on me. However, this is one incident I won’t wish my worst enemy.
Is it true your elder brother, the late Jeremiah Nwaji, was a classmate (Class 2004) of Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State?
Yes! My elder brother and Governor Francis Nwifuru were classmates at Nwofe Secondary School in the Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. My late elder brother was even the Onitsha Coordinator of Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru political movement. I thought the governor would be the first to visit the family after he heard about the tragic incident. Yes, some of their classmates have been visiting to condole with the family, but the governor himself has not shown up.
Therefore, my appeal to the Ebonyi State Government under Governor Francis Nwifuru’s watch is to come to our aid, knowing the sort of tragedy that has befallen this family. I am saying this because his presence would go a long way in consoling the family hugely. My late elder brother, who was also Nwifuru’s classmate, was the breadwinner of this family.
The governor’s visit to this family will restore our hope. Governor Francis Nwifuru should know that we just finished burying our father. His classmate, Jeremiah Nwaji, was the one who singlehandedly funded the burial of our father. Most worrisome is the fact that his own (Jeremiah’s) burial and those of his wife and others are yet to be done. Therefore, we appeal to him to come to our aid.
The villagers, including your brethren, have continued to surround and support you in love and unity. Do you have any message of hope for them in this time of grief?
They have been here with me since the day of the incident. No single day passed without you seeing hundreds of people trooping in and out in solidarity and support. Many of them sleep here till the following day. Why? The idea is so that I wouldn’t be left alone and then start thinking of suicide or something hurtful or harmful to myself. They have been very supportive. So, I thank them immensely for their love and show of kindness.
However, my simple advice to them is that they should always remember not to put their eggs in one basket. People should always be conscious of putting their eggs in different baskets. Assuming my brother and his family traveled in batches, I mean three or four persons in a vehicle, I’m sure this would have been averted. Given that it was destined to happen, the magnitude wouldn’t have been this tragic and devastating.
