Two
persons were killed on Wednesday, while no fewer than nine others were
injured after a tipper rammed into pedestrians at the U-turn end of the
Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
The tipper was said to be avoiding a
government convoy of seven vehicles that allegedly drove recklessly into
the expressway from a side road. The incident was said to have occurred
between 11am and 12pm.
Eyewitness said the convoy had stopped to visit a yet-to-be identified person admitted at a private hospital in the area.
A witness, who requested anonymity said,
“It was a convoy of about seven vehicles. There were four jeeps and
three escort vans. The escorts were riot policemen.
“On their way back, while connecting the
express, the convoy caused the accident. They drove into the expressway
recklessly without stopping to check for oncoming vehicles.
“At the time they connected the
expressway, a tipper was approaching on top speed. To avoid hitting the
convoy, the tipper swerved to the right side of the road. It lost
control and rammed into some pedestrians standing by the side of the
road.”
The eyewitness said 11 persons were hit,
while two died on the spot. It was learnt that the convoy did not wait
initially, but went to make a U-turn to the other side of the
expressway.
It was learnt that the convoy later stopped few metres opposite the scene of the accident.
The eyewitness said, “The riot policemen
came down, they watched the scene for a while, jumped into their
vehicles and proceeded towards the Sango area of Ogun State.
“We could not challenge the convoy when it stopped because the policemen carried guns and they looked menacing.”
It was learnt that a Lagos State Ambulance Service bus later arrived to convey victims to the hospital.
Eyewitnesses were unsure if the convoy belonged to either the Lagos or Ogun state governments.
One of them said, “The number plates of
the vehicles were covered. Some people later came and said the number
plates on the vehicles of the police had Ogun State written on them.”
A senior police officer attached to Oke
Odo Police Division, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he
was not the command’s spokesperson, said, “We were informed that a truck
coming from Abeokuta, had experienced brake failure while trying to
avoid hitting another vehicle.
“The truck swerved off the road and in
the process, ran into some pedestrians who were standing by the side of
the expressway. We are aware that two persons were killed in the
accident and that they had been conveyed to a general hospital by
sympathisers at the scene.
“However, we do not know if the vehicle belonged to a convoy because we did not meet it at the scene.”
Ogun State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Yusup Olayniyonu, said the convoy was not that of the Ogun government.
He said, “The governor is at Abeokuta and the deputy governor is also at Abeokuta. Neither was in Lagos today.”
The Lagos State Commissioner for
information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, aso said no government
convoy from the state went to the area.
A highly placed government official also
said, “The governor is in Marina, Lagos Island, while the deputy
governor is outside the country. No government official was in that area
today (Wednesday).”
The telephone line of the Lagos State
Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, rang out. Text
messages sent to the phone waere not replied to as of the time of going
to the press.PUNCH
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