The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Accident

  • Breaking: Three pupils killed in Lagos auto crash

    Three school pupils were on Monday morning killed in an accident in the Ikota area of Victoria Garden City (VGC), Lagos.

    Eyewitness said several pupils were knocked down while trying to cross the road. They were reportedly on their way to a school located within the area.

    However, three of them died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident.

    The remaining victims were rushed rushed to the hospital by policemen present at the scene of the incident.

    Following the incident, a fracas erupted among some residents of the area, this led to sporadic shooting by security personnel to disperse the raging residents.

    As at the time of filing this report, both vehicular and human movement around the area had been restricted.

  • How safe is that seat belt?

    How safe is that seat belt?

    Prevention is said to be better than cure. So as the use of safety belts in vehicles prevents unforeseen circumstances. But how safe can such belts be when in commercial vehicles?

    This question becomes imminent whenever one boards commercial vehicles. In a city like Lagos where the population competes with some countries in the continent, it is only imaginable the volume of vehicular movement that takes place.

    Those who do not own a car definitely must patronise the commercial buses. Also, those who own vehicles but do not want to be run down a typical traffic day might decide to hop into the next available bus.

    Transportation activity becomes heightened on week days. But one trend that cannot be overlooked is the use of seat belts by front row passengers. This is a welcome development. However, there is a snag to such development. Passengers resent vehemently when told wear such belts.

    A seat belt according to wikipedia is a vehicle device designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop.

    It is commonly observed the little arguments that usually ensue in commercial vehicles over the use of seat belts. While commuters who choose the front seat vehemently refuse its use due to various reasons, drivers tend to be adamant about its use.

    According to the drivers, the safety of their passengers is paramount coupled with their aversion to incur the wrath of transport regulators.

    Among the commuters who spoke with The Nation, top reasons for their regularly refusal is attributed to the belts’ unsightly appearance and the use of ropes in the name of safety belts.

    John Oyewale lives in Ogba but works in Victoria Island. He is a regular user of the commercial vehicles. While on his way to work daily, he prefers to use the seat beside the driver but recently stopped such practice. When asked why he did so, he has this sordid experience to share:

    “These commercial vehicle owners are not helping matters. How can I continue to make use of ropes to cage myself all in the name of seat belt? I will rather occupy a seat at the back where I will feel comfortable. Such so called seat belts are static. It is not adjustable,” he lamented.

    Another person who simply wants to be addressed as Chris also had a bitter experience with use of seat belts. When asked about his seat belt experience narrates thus: “I was invited for an interview somewhere in Lagos. I boarded a bus from the bus park. I chose the front seat which is my favourite. When we were about to move the driver told me to wear the seat belt. Looking at the seat belt, it had no lock but a rope tied to the door and the seat.

    “Apart from that, its appearance was not what I could afford to rest across my White shirt. I explained these to the driver. The driver got angry and reigned abuses.”

    Taking it in good strides all the insults hurled at him, Chris marvelled at the driver’s insistence to put on such ‘so-called belt’ on his sparkling long sleeved shirt.  These insults attracted a whole lot of comments from other commuters. All comments were in favour of Chris.

    If not for the timely intervention of a fellow bus driver at the bus park, the commuters were ready to disembark from the bus.

    For Timothy Ajewole, he doesn’t believe in the effectiveness of such belts. When asked why? He replied asking a rather rhetorical question in pidgin: “My brother something wey dey tie for two ends fit hold you well when anything happen?”

    He however doesn’t blame the drivers but regulators.  “Regulators are to blame. It is one thing to create a preventive measure but ensuring the right belts are used is another thing all together,” he said

    “I recall how I was asked to use the seat belt by the driver. But seeing the belt was dirty, I refused. My refusal caused uproar in the bus. Explaining to him didn’t change anything. All he was after was my wearing of the belt in order to avoid arrest,” Okolo Ezeh narrates.

    For Ebube, a regular commuter, such commercial buses are not after the safety of passengers or the cleanliness of such seat belts. “All they want to avoid is paying fine,” he added.

    Defending claims by the passengers about the state of seatbelts, a bus driver, Yinka says such commuters are liars. Using his bus as an example, Yinka says his front seat passengers enjoy each ride. Asides that, he says the use of the seatbelts helps him evade arrest from law enforcement agencies.

    “How much do I earn to pay N20, 000 to law enforcement agencies? On each trip I do not make as much as that,” he said.

    He is rather of the opinion that commuters are averse to the use of seat belts. “These people want to be free. When you tell them to wear the belt, they ignore you.”

    Refusing to toe the line of his colleague, Esho, a driver in one of the motor parks in Lagos confesses that such belts are not the best for safety. “These belts in vehicles are not safe. We just put them to avoid the disturbances of Road safety.”

    Sounding religious he says: “We all are not safe. Only God saves. If front seat passengers use seat belt, how about the other 23 passengers without seat belts?”

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in 2011 stated that 4,327 persons were killed by road accidents while 17,464 persons sustained various degrees of injuries. While in 2012, 4,260 persons were killed by road accidents.

    Among the causes of such accidents are: over speeding, drunk driving, ignoring road signs, bad roads and the non use of seat/safety belt.

  • Family of six die in road accident

    A forensic specialist at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, (UBTH),  Morbid Anatomy department, Dr Omojefe Ralph, his three children, uncle and child died  in an auto  crash on Wednesday evening  by Okada junction along the Benin -Lagos expressway.
    Our reporter gathered that late Omojefe and his family members had escorted his sister who was on her way to the United States  having  won the American lottery to Lagos  and were on their way back to Benin when the accident happened.

    President, UBTH chapter of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Kingsley Okafor who confirmed the incident on Thursday  said he had visited the family while the late Omojefe’s wife has been taken to their village in Delta state.

    He said the association has declared a seven-day mourning during which  members are to wear black armband  and a minute silence will be observed  daily  before any clinic session.

    As at the time of filing this report on Thursday, officials of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) said they were yet to get full details of the cause of the accident.

     

  • FRSC returns N.2m to families of accident victims

    The Fedderal Road Safety Corps, Ebonyi State Command has  handed over the sum of N215, 690 and other valuables it recovered at the scene of a ghastly motor accident in the state to the families of victims of  the fatal auto-crash.
    The accident occurred on September.14, 2013 in Ivo Local Government Area of the state at the Berger Junction along the Okigwe Afikpo Federal highway and involved a bulk Tanker and a Nissan Premiere car.
    Five  occupants of the car, two men and three women returning from a church convention, died on the spot while the tanker driver was handed over to the police for investigation.
    Mr Joseph Abuo, the Ivo Unit Commander of the Commission said that during the rescue of the victims, five GSM phones, a female handbag, a voice recorder and the money were recovered.
    “When we finished necessary talk with the Nigerian Police Ivo Division, the above mentioned items were handed over to the representatives of the victims’ families.
    “75% of road traffic accidents in the country are caused by human factors.That is why we advise road users to be very careful, obey traffic laws and remember that we are now approaching the yuletide period that is associated with rush.
    “Drivers in particular, should not engage in over speeding, wrongful overtaking, non-use of seat belts, drunk-driving etc.
    Representatives of the deceased families, Mr Sam Ede, thanked the FRSC command, police and neighbours for the recovered items and for returning them intact.
     “There are still good people in the country despite the views of people over the issue”
  • Community kicks as hit-and-run driver kills man in Lagos

    Community kicks as hit-and-run driver kills man in Lagos

    Residents of Gbagada have cried out to government for help after a man identified as Oguntimehin Oluwayemi B. was knocked down by a car Tuesday morning while attempting to cross the Mafowoku/Gbagada bus stop along Lagos/Ibadan express way.

    According to eye witness account, Oguntimehin “was still breathing after the accident and people came to rescue him off the express way but there was no vehicle that could convey him to the General Hospital at Gbagada.”

    He gave up the ghost 20 minutes later — sustaining multiple injuries.

    Kabiawu Babajide, Gen. Sec. of Council of Oworonsoki Youth Forum told The Nation that: “the ATM card in his pocket indicated his identity but we do not know where he resides. We called the emergency number 112 and 767 they promised that the emergency team will come to the scene but they do not arrive after 6 hours before we left the scene.”

    Babajide decried the incessant similar incidents “since 1979, Lagos/Ibadan express way has been the epicenter of massacre in the history of Lagos State road accident. This Federal road has claimed many lives of innocent citizen caught across in trying to cross this express way to the other side.

    “Most especially at Gbagada bus stop opposite Mobil Filling Station, times without numbers, we have witnessed similar occurences involving students, residents.”

    Oguntimeyin flayed governement neglect from saving the populace: “It is unfortunate that since 1979, the Federal government does not have any contingency plan to save the populace from this frequent tragedy that normally occurs at Mafowoku and Gbagada bus stop.”

    “We have written several letters to the Federal and State government to help construct pedestrian Bridge at Mafowoku and Gbagada bus stop in order to put an end to the massacre of innocent people caused by Vehicle accident.

    He re-iterated that the association has also solicited the attention of the Federal and Lagos State government towards the pedestrian bridge situated at Olopomeji area. This pedestrian bridge has deteriorated or dilapidated
    completely and it poses an imminent threat which could be disastrous.

  • Group seeks auto tyre safety

    “The fact that you did not find your tyre flat where you last parked your vehicle does not mean that any of the tyres are not leaking or at the expected level gauge they should be,” said President of Automobile and Road Safety Initiative, Mr Samuel Oloyede Oriowo

    This statement, made during the Auto Tyre Safety Day held week penultimate, captures the insignificant of tyres as some motorists assumed them to be, and had led to fatal vehicle crashes in which lives of prominent and promising Nigerians have been terminated.

    The recent estimate suggests that out of 3,680 accidents recorded in this clime for the last three years; about 2,500 of them are caused by tyre bursts.

    In his welcome address, Oloyede said “the history of automobiles that can be traced to the early 1770s when many people tried to make cars that would run on steam. But beginning in the 1880s, investors tried very hard to make cars that would run well enough to use every day”.

    According to him, “the efforts of the first tyre makers such as Charles Goodyear, John Dunlop, Andre’ Michelin and Phillip Strauss among others complimented that of the vehicle manufacturers who improved on their inventions to make vehicles larger and more powerful to transport goods and passengers.

    “It was observed that in any gathering where auto tyres are discussed, the inventory effort of Charles Goodyear who invented vulcanized rubber in 1844 which was later used for the first tyres should be duly commended.”

    Oloyede spoke extensively on the aims of the Initiative: “We at Automobiles and Road Safety Initiative have resolved to arrest the menace of sub-standard, Second-hand (Tokunbo) tyres in Nigeria. But we can’t do it alone which is one of the reasons we have called you up here today to join us in adding your voice to the crusade to reduce vehicle crashes that happen due to conditions of the vehicle, a reasonable percentage which has to do with the state and conditions of the vehicle’s tyre,” Oloyede said.

    He further assured to enlarge the scope of this event for the betterment of the sector and the motoring Nigerians from the beginning of the year 2014.

    The president also noted that in subsequent editions of the annual event, the Automobiles And Road Safety Initiative will start conferring Award Of Excellence on tyre manufacturers; their representatives and dealers that meet expected High Quality standard for usage in Nigeria.

    “Kudos to the outgoing Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, newly promoted Assistance Corps Marshall Nseobong Charles Akpabio for successfully manning the state with the highest volume of traffic in the country.

    “The effort of the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Odumodu and his performing team including other distinguished guess was commended for the wonderful jobs they have been doing to rid the country of used, fake tyres.”

    In conclusion of the speech, the president urged the general citizens of Nigeria to play their part dutifully to see the end to the production and, or importation and usage of used, sub-standard, Tokunbo tyres.

  • Police officer killed, couple injured in Ogun road accident

    A Superintendent of Police, Mr Folahan Ogunkoya died on Saturday died  while an un-identified couple were critically injured when a car being driven by Ogunkoya collided with the couples’ jeep on Siun stretch of the Abeokuta – Sagamu road.

    The Police officer until his death in auto – crash, was the head of the Anti-Robbery Squad unit of the Nigeria Police Force(NPF), Ogun State Command.

    It was learnt that  he was travelling from Abeokuta to Ijebu-Ode for a social function, lost control  and veered off into another lane before running  into  an on coming  Toyota Prado Jeep few meters to DayWaterman College along Abeokuta – Sagamu road.

    Public Relations Office (PRO) of the Ogun state Traffic Compliance Agency (TRACE), Mr Tunde Akinbiyi, who confirmed the accident, said the deceased was driving in his ash coloured Honda car marked (LAGOS) MZ 717 AAA when he lost control of the wheel and crashed into another vehicle.

    Witness said while  the deceased’s car split  into into three pieces with his remains thrown out of the wreckage while the  Prado Toyota jeep carrying the couple caught fire following accident impact.

    According to Akinbiyi, the couple have been taken to the State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta for treatment while the remains of the deceased police boss was also taken to same  Hospital.

  • 2 soldiers, 2 others die in auto crashes in Niger

    Four persons, two Soldiers and two civilians lost their lives in two separate auto crashes along Mokwa-Bida Road on Friday and Sunday respectively in Niger State.

    The first accident claimed the lives of the two Soldiers when a Trailer at about 7:30 pm on Friday hit a New Bussa bound Army Hilux pick-up at Labojin village, about 43 kilometres from Mokwa town. Two other Soldiers in the vehicle were injured.

    Eye witness said the victims, the driver and the soldier beside him on the front seats died on the spot while the prompt arrival of officials of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to the accident spot and the efforts of the villagers helped in the evacuation of the injured to Mokwa General Hospital for treatment.

    The impact of the accident was so sever that it took hours to remove the corpses of the victims from the wreckage.

    The driver of the trailer was arrested by villagers and  handed  over to the police.

    Also Sunday  morning in Mokwa town along same road an head on collision between a petrol tanker and a truck conveying water melon led to the death of two people.

    The driver of the Mitshbush truck carrying the water melon and the owner of the consignment lost their lives.

    Confirming the two accidents, FRSC Sector Commander for Mokwa Sector, Mr Adedoyin Adeyinka in a telephone chat said that the Friday accident involved military personnel and a trailer. According to him, “We spend hours trying to separate the corpses of the two soldiers from the mangled vehicle while the injured officers were rushed to Mokwa General Hopsital and their are responding to treatment.

    “The second accident, an head on collision took place today (Sunday September 8,2013) involving a water melon truck and  a petrol tanker. The truck driver and the person beside him  died on the spot and their corpses were conveyed to Mokwa General Hospital,”

    “We have a hectic time to trying to stop people from scooping the fuel at the accident to avoid further lost of lives, with the help of the police”, he said.

    Adeyinka then advised motorists to exercise caution and restrain while plying the route, owing to the bad state of the road, in the interest of their families and loved one.

  • Bus crushes woman to death in Lagos

    Bus crushes woman to death in Lagos

    A young woman was on Tuesday crushed to death by a commercial bus in Charity area of Oshodi, Lagos.

    The incident occurred at about 9.00am near a block industry along the very busy Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

    The deceased, who was on her way to work, had crossed the expressway before she was hit from behind by a white-coloured civilian bus coming from Mile 2.

    The remains of the lady is still lying on the around on the asphalt road  at the time of filing in this report with visibly shaken sympathizers milling around it.

    The incident, according to eyewitnesses, brings to fore the need for government to enforce the use of pedestrian bridges on the expressway.

    According to them, the accident would have been averted if the lady had made use of the pedestrian bridge sited few metres away from where she was knocked down.

     

     

     

  • Eight die in fire, auto accident

    Eight persons have been confirmed dead while 20 others sustained various degrees of injuries in a fire accident that occurred in Birni Maza along Lapai-Lambata-Abuja road in Niger State.

    The fire accident which occurred on Friday night involved a petroleum tanker and two Toyota cars.

    The six occupants of the Toyota cars including the drivers were instantly burnt beyond recognition while the driver and the conductor of the tanker sustained high degree of injuries.

    The fire started when the two Toyota cars trailing the tanker, whose fuel was leaking, scratched their bottom plates on the trail where the fuel had poured on.

    The bottom plates then ignited and caught fire. According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened very fast and did not give the occupants of the vehicles a chance to escape.

    The fire was so intense that even the villagers who came to rescue the accident victims were also affected in the accident as they sustained various degrees of injuries.

    The Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NISEMA), Mohammed Shaba confirmed the incident stating that the dead victims were buried at the spot of the accident while all injured victims were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre Bida and the rural hospital in Lapai.

    He, however, said that two of the injured victims died on Saturday morning.

    According to him, eight deaths have already been recorded while twenty others sustained various degrees of injuries.

    Shaba said, “As I am talking to you now I am on my way from Lapai to Bida where some of the victims with various degree of injuries are hospitalized.”

    He then attributed the cause of the accident to the poor state of the road leading to Abuja, “I can tell you the cause of the accident is the dilapidated nature of the road, it is unfortunate the road that links the Federal Capital Abuja and the Southwest is in that shape, we appeal to the federal government to do something about the road.”

    In a similar vein, the Emir of Lapai, Alhaji Umar Bago has commiserated with the families of those who lost their lives in the accident while praying for those who sustained injuries to have quick recovery.

    He commended the prompt response of the state government and NISEMA on emergencies in the state while calling on government to ensure the repairs are done on the roads to prevent future accidents.