Ghana's energy minister and petroleum authority warn: collecting fuel at tanker crash scenes can kill in seconds
Ghana's Minister of Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Jinapor, has appealed to the public to stay away from fuel tanker accident scenes and never collect spilled fuel, warning that what looks like an opportunity can become a tragedy in seconds. His statement, read on his behalf at the National Petroleum Authority's Consumer Week, urged people to call the emergency services and leave crash scenes to trained personnel. The NPA's chief executive, Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, reminded the public that siphoning fuel at a crash scene is theft, punishable on conviction by up to 20 years in prison.
Key points
- Minister John Jinapor: do not gather to collect spilt fuel at tanker crashes — 'what looks like an opportunity can become a tragedy in seconds.'
- The NPA chief: siphoning fuel at a crash scene is theft, carrying up to 20 years in prison on conviction.
- The public advice is to move away and alert the Fire Service and Police, under the NPA's 'Stay Back, Stay Safe' campaign.
What happened
The statements were made at the National Petroleum Authority's 2026 Consumer Week celebration at Kasoa in the Central Region, where Jinapor's address was read on his behalf. He also said consumers had faced a difficult year at the pumps, with prices pushed by Middle East conflict, shipping disruption through the Strait of Hormuz and a weaker cedi.
Crowds collecting fuel from crashed tankers are a recurring danger in Ghana and across the region: a spill can ignite without warning, turning bystanders and fuel collectors into casualties before emergency services can secure the scene.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That the minister and the NPA chief both issued the warning publicly at Consumer Week, in the words quoted.
- That siphoning at a crash scene is treated as theft, with a maximum 20-year sentence on conviction, on the NPA chief's statement.
What we don't know yet
- Whether the campaign changes behaviour at future crash scenes — its effect cannot be measured from this event.
- How many tanker-crash fuel-collection incidents Ghana recorded this year — no figure was given at the event.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (3)
Why this label: The minister's own words, in a statement read on his behalf at the National Petroleum Authority's Consumer Week celebration, quoted identically by MyJoyOnline and the Ghana Guardian. He also called on security and emergency agencies to improve coordination with the NPA against siphoning, tanker accidents and fires.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Tameklo's words at the same Consumer Week event, reported by MyJoyOnline and Energy News Africa. The 20-year figure is the maximum he cited for the offence.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The campaign and its February launch are described in the Ghana Guardian's report of the event; Tameklo pointed to past tanker accidents in Ghana where crowds gathering to siphon fuel worsened the toll when fires broke out.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
This is a warning aimed at a habit that has repeatedly turned road accidents into mass-casualty fires. It carries both halves of the message at once — the safety risk, in the minister's words, and the legal one, in the regulator's: collecting the fuel is a crime as well as a danger.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published — the warning and the penalty cited are confirmed by the minister's and the NPA chief's own statements at Consumer Week, reported by three Ghanaian outlets in the same terms.