along the Agege Motor Road, Ikeja, Lagos, leading to the
death of an unsuspecting male passer-by identified as a
manager in Slot Electronics company, who was reportedly
crushed to death by the truck.
A traffic gridlock ensued following the accident that saw
several persons injured, with motorists going inward and
outward Oshodi trapped for seven hours.
The accident, it was gathered occurred following attempt by
driver of the truck with number plate AKD 964 XB to avoid
ramming into a motorcyclist who was reportedly being
chased by policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad,
RRS.
"The RRS men are stationed along the Agege Motor road to
effect the Lagos State traffic law on the ban of motorcyclists
along the expressway. This particular motorcyclist decided
to drive against traffic on noticing the RRS men on the other
side of the road. But when they sighted him, they began to
chase him. In the process, the Okada man decided to make
a U-turn. Just at that point, the truck with a 20-footer
container swerved to avoid crushing the motorcyclist, only
for the container to fall off and land on the Eko Meat van.
Motorists who stopped tried to lift the container to rescue the
occupants, but could not," an eye witness who identified
himself as Moshood Balogun said.
Some occupants of the Eko Meat van who survived the
accident also gave an account of how it went down. They
said that the policemen caught up with the fleeing
motorcyclist and at the same time blocked the way with
their van, apparently to prevent the commercial motorcyclist
from escaping.
One of the survivors, Taiwo Rauf, a meat supplier, said: "We
were four inside the van. Two persons were sitting beside
the driver while I sat behind. I used the van to supply meat
at Oshodi from abattoir at Agege. We had already supplied
the first batch and we were heading back to Agege for
another round.
"While we were on our way, we saw a commercial
motorcyclist riding against traffic with a female passenger.
When the rider saw that the police were approaching, he
turned to escape but the policemen caught up with him.
Another police van emerged and parked beside the first one.
"Our van which was coming from behind had no space to
go forward, so we had to wait. At that point, the truck
which was coming behind us was blaring its horn and an
occupant, inside was shouting at the top of his voice 'no
brake.'
"Before we knew what was happening, the truck hit our van
and at the same time swerved to the culvert, only to crush a
man to death. The driver of meat van was injured and was
immediately rushed to the hospital by sympathizers. I can't
tell how I managed to come out of the van."
Reports have it that an angry mob attempted to attack the
policemen who they blamed for the accident, but they were
dispersed by tear gas canisters from the policemen.
A male sympathizer who screamed after the deceased was
brought out from under the trailer identified him as Belle, a
manager in Slot.
Attempt by policemen from divisions under Area 'F', Ikeja to
control the traffic failed as the wreckage of the meat van and
container blocked the road.
The evacuation of the container could not be completed till
about 4.30pm, after officials of the Lagos State Traffic
Management Authority, LASTMA, brought a crane.
Spokesman for LASTMA, Mrs Bola Ajao, when contacted,
said LASTMA officials were on ground to control the traffic
situation.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, Mr Tunde
Shobulon, who visited the scene, reportedly claimed the
meat van apparently drove against traffic, saying he was
oblivious of the alleged involvement of policemen in the
accident.
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