A commuter, Adebayo Olanrewaju, has narrated the moment a truck at Okegbegun, along Sagamu Road, Ikorodu, Lagos, lost control and climbed over a tricycle conveying four passengers.
Olanrewaju, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, told City Round that the incident occurred around 3pm on Thursday when he was on a bus en route to Ogijo.
He said the truck was ascending a steep portion of the road when it suddenly descended due to brake failure and climbed over the tricycle behind it.
OIanrewaju said “The bus I boarded was about to reach the spot when the accident happened. The truck was heading towards LASPOTECH (Lagos State Polytechnic) and the tricycle was behind it. The road is bad. There were five people in the tricycle: three passengers at the back, and one in the front with the rider.
“As the truck was climbing the road, it slipped and crushed the tricycle which was too close for the rider to quickly manoeuvre. The truck climbed over all of them. A mini bus was also involved but it was not really affected.
“People rushed the victims to hospitals. When I was going to Ibeshe today (Friday), I heard some okada riders around the spot say that they had buried one of the victims. They said all the people in the tricycle eventually died.”
However, an emergency responder disclosed to our correspondent on Friday that three persons died in the crash.
“Two corpses had been released to the family for burial today (Friday). It was unfortunate,” the source added.
It was learnt that a protest broke out after the crash on Thursday and continued on Friday as commercial transport workers set up a bornfire and blocked the road.
They also blocked all routes leading to the road, leaving passengers to trek long distances.
A group, National Youth Assembly of Nigeria Ikorodu North LCDA, in a statement on Friday by its coordinator, Raji Oluwadamilare, said Ikorodu/ Shagamu Road had become “a death trap” to residents and commuters.
He said havoc caused due to deplorable condition of the road had been brought to the attention of the government without getting any positive response.
The statement read in part, “The recent increase in the number of accidents and death has pushed the commuters to stage a fierce protest this morning (Friday). In 2018, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, was present at the flag-off ceremony of this road. He made promises that the construction would kick off with immediate effect.
“As against our expectations, the commencement started after some months and continued for about six months. Since 2018, the road condition is not something to talk about. The government’s attention has been called to this issue several times but they turned deaf ears to the cries of the residents and commuters.”
It was gathered that policemen from the Sagamu Road division later prevailed on the protesters and restored normalcy to the road.
The police spokesperson in the state, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed that fatalities were recorded in the crash but did not disclose the figure.
He said, “The truck was carrying palm oil to be delivered to a company in the area. It lost control and ran into a tricycle. We lost some people.”
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