When everyone else was running away from the flames, Mr. Alagbe Hezekiah ran towards them.
It was Thursday, September 17, 2026, and what began as a routine diesel discharge at a filling station near Feesu Junction on the Iwo–Ibadan Expressway suddenly turned into a scene of terror.
A diesel tanker caught fire, sending huge flames into the air and threatening nearby businesses, homes and people in the vicinity. As panic spread, people scrambled to safety.
But Hezekiah, a veteran driver with more than two decades of experience behind the wheel since 2004, made a decision that could have cost him his life.
He climbed into the burning cab.
With flames consuming the tanker and thick, toxic smoke filling the area, Hezekiah took control of the vehicle and began steering it away from the populated area.
Every second mattered.
The tanker was carrying highly flammable fuel, while the intense heat created the terrifying possibility of an explosion. A mechanical failure, loss of control or sudden escalation of the fire could have ended his life within moments.
Yet, rather than abandon the vehicle and flee, Hezekiah drove towards an uninhabited riverbank, putting distance between the burning tanker and the people who could have been caught in a devastating blast.
His ordeal did not end there.
In a final act of remarkable composure, he managed to detach the tractor unit from the burning trailer before the flames completely consumed it.
What could have become a tragedy involving several lives was, instead, brought under control through one man’s split-second decision to put himself in harm’s way.
Hezekiah’s story is not simply about driving a burning tanker. It is about what one person chose to do when fear gave everyone else a reason to run.
He chose to stay.
He chose to act.
And in doing so, he risked everything so others could get away from danger.
For a man who has spent more than 20 years behind the wheel, Hezekiah’s most remarkable journey may have been the one he took on September 17 — straight into the flames, and away from the people they threatened.
