There was pandemonium Tuesday evening at the Ogba area of Lagos as a truck crushed 17 students to death and injured many others.
The truck driver was running away from Vehicle Inspection Officeed (VIO) for violating traffic law when it ran over the students.
It was during the process of trying to escape from the government officials that it crushed the students of Millennium Secondary School and Ojodu- Senior Secondary School
After seeing the magnitude of the damage caused, the truck driver increased the speed, but the vehicle was pursued by over 500 commercial motorcycle riders (Okada), who caught up with him adjacent to Excellence Hotel Ogba, where hell was let loose.
A Police traffic Officer who was at the roundabout in front of Excellence Hotel said:” When the driver was caught, he was being manhandled but the quick intervention of the Police from Area G, Ogba, saved the man from being lynched as he was rescued by the police.
A witness, Jim Udi, said the rescue of the driver did not go down well with the Okada riders and some students of the two schools who got wind that the driver who crashed their colleagues was rescued by the police,” they quickly bought fuel and used lighter to set the vehicle ablaze. They also attempted to set other trucks ablaze, but the massive reinforcement of the Police from Rapid Response Squad, Area G Command, Ogba, Iju, and Ojodu divisions saved the situation”.
A student Demian Ugoagabra, said the casualty may have risen as many people were badly injured.
However, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, said the number of casualties was yet to be ascertained while normalcy has returned to the area.
Moreso, FRSC has said that its’ officials were not involved in the accident.
Route Commander Olabisi Sonusi FRSC Public Education Officer in a statement said:” An articulated truck was said to have lost control at Grammar School Bus stop along Ogunnusi road, Lagos today Tuesday 7th December 2021 which caused the death of an unverified number of students and leaving many injured.
“The men of FRSC were called upon by passerby to help intervene after the crash had happened.
About seven of the victims were rescued and immediately taken to Lagos State Emergency Centre Ojota by FRSC personnel while another road user helped in carrying about seven also to the same emergency centre.
“The general public should disregard the disgruntled information been circulated by some unscrupulous element that FRSC men caused the crash.
We want to place on record that our men were not in any way involved in the cause of the crash as patrol activities were not ongoing along that axis as at the time of the crash.
