The Nation Newspaper

Tag: truck

  • Truck kills two, injures seven in Ibadan

    A red colour articulated vehicle with no registration number coming from Challenge Area to Molete roundabout in Ibadan crushed two persons to death and injured seven others as a result of brake failure at about 7:45 am on Friday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria, reports that the articulated vehicle rammed into no fewer than six tricycles (Keke Napep), two Micra cars and two 14 seater buses at Molete motor park.

    NAN reports that the Registration number of one of the 14 Seat buses is LUY 018 YT and that of Keke Napep is DDA 699 QQ while the number plate of other vehicles involved has been removed.

    An eyewitness, Mr Muideen Ajisuwon, told NAN that he heard the motor boy of the articulated vehicle and the driver shouting that their vehicle had brake failure, as a result, people around started running helter-skelter.

    Ajisuwon said a woman selling Ewedu and the driver of one of the Keke Napep was crushed to death while trying to escape.

    The eyewitness said that among the seven injured was a female serving National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member and a student who had his leg broken.

    Read Also: Truck crushes mother, child to death in Ogun

    He said the injured and corpses have been taken to the hospital.

    The people of the area called on Oyo State government to as a matter of urgency relocate the Molete motor park because it was preventing free flow of traffic in the area.

    When contacted by NAN correspondent, Seun Onijala, Oyo State Public Education Officer, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), confirmed the incident.

    Onijala, however, said he was yet to be briefed on the number of casualties involved in the accident.

  • Truck crushes bicycle rider

    A truck conveying cement to Warri in Delta State has crushed Musa Abduramah to death at Evbukhu junction, along Sapele Road in Benin City, Edo State.

    The Nation learnt that Musa was riding his bicycle, which he used to sell empty sacks of cement, when a vehicle knocked him down.

    He was said to have fallen on the road when the truck driver, who was trying to park properly, crushed him.

    The deceased is survived by three wives and many children.

    Read also: Four face fake drug production charge

    Eyewitnesses said the driver that knocked him down, sped off after realising that the truck had killed him.

    The deceased’s brother, Mohammed Shehu, said they wanted the government to arrest the fleeing driver.

     

  • Truck carrying ballot papers held

    Some youths in Ogoja Local Government of Cross River State yesterday apprehended a truck conveying ballot papers.

    The Nation gathered the truck, with Enugu State registration, was stopped by youths in Egbung community, during a routine check of vehicles by members of a taskforce.

    An eyewitness said the truck was carrying unused ballot papers belonging to Boki council for the 2015 state constituency election, computer accessories and documents.

    The driver, he said, claimed to have been authorised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to move the ballot papers from Calabar.

    Read also: Election: INEC can’t afford to disappoint, says Yakubu

    He said: “After being interrogation by the task force, the driver said he was not certain of his destination and this raised suspicion so he was apprehended and the police was invited.”

    Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Dr. Frankland Briyai, said he had been notified of the development and had reported it to appropriate security agencies for investigation.

    He said he would speak more on the matter when investigations was concluded.

     

  • Truck, tanker drivers shun terminal because of N1,000 parking fee

    The Manager of Orile Parking Terminal, Mr Timothy Nkeonye, has complained about persistent low patronage of the terminal. They said truck and tanker drivers avoid payment of N1,000 daily parking fee.

    Nkeonye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday that the truck and tanker drivers rather preferred parking on the highways.

    According to him, many of the drivers shun the Orile-Iganmu parking terminal to avoid paying N1,000 daily parking fee.

    Nkeonye noted that the 3000-capacity terminal had been experiencing low patronage since it was constructed in 2007.

    “The park is experiencing low patronage as the drivers park on the expressway to avoid paying the parking fee at the terminal. They (drivers) are very difficult to control. For now, the parking terminal can conveniently contain 600 tankers if the drivers obey parking rules, ‘’ the manager said.

    Nkeonye appealed to relevant agencies to be more proactive in enforcing the traffic law that prohibited tankers from parking indiscriminately on the roads.

    He suggested adequate enforcement to prohibit indiscriminate parking of trucks on the roads.

    The manager also advocated punishment for offenders in order to adjust and abide by the rules.

    He said: “Part of the terminal was waterlogged and the Lagos State Government had intervened to find lasting solution to the challenge.

    “Some of the tankers drivers had no park but instead of parking in the terminal for convenience and safety, they decided to hang around the expressway before loading at the depots,’’ the manager said.

    The manager appealed to owners of the tankers and trucks to always provide their drivers with parking fees in order to have convenient spaces before loading at Apapa depot.

    “Some of them hid under the guise that the owners did not give them parking fees and they could not use their money to pay for the terminal, ’’ he said.

    NAN reports that the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had said that efforts were being made to place bars on some Lagos bridges to prevent indiscriminate parking of tankers and articulated vehicles on bridges.

    Its State Sector Commander, Hyginus Omeje, said that a committee was inaugurated to look into how owners of trucks and tankers could do their businesses without the vehicles climbing bridges in the state.

    “We are working on how truck drivers can use the ground instead of climbing bridges in Lagos State to prevent accidents and traffic gridlock,’’ Omeje said.

  • Pandemonium as truck crushes two in Delta Community

    There was pandemonium in the university town of Abraka, Ethiope East council area of Delta state Friday when an angry mob took over the Abraka-Agbor Road in protest of the killing of two boys by a truck.

    A truck, which had lost control of its brakes, rammed into two teenagers from Orhia-Abraka, whose identities could not be ascertained, when the driver of the vehicle veered off the road.

    The sight of the mess made of the corpses by the truck triggered the angry reaction from members of the community, who went berserk, more especially as the driver of the truck had taken to his heels, abandoning the vehicle at the scene.

    Read Also:Truck kills 300-Level student

    A community source who relayed the development to the Nation in Warri on Friday said the angry mod went after every passing vehicle along the busy expressway, attacking drivers and leaving hundreds of travelers stranded while the melee lasted.

    “The sight was ugly; those boys were smashed beyond recognition and to make matters worse, the driver of the truck bolted before people could gather. The community boys were incensed by the sight of the corpses of the boys and they started attacking other vehicles traveling along the road around that time.

    “Policemen from the Abraka Division came, but they left the first time because they said they didn’t have a vehicle to evacuate the corpses with, but they later returned to park the body parts”, the source who did not want to be named explained.

    When reached for confirmation and details, the spokesman of the Delta state police command, Andrew Aniamaka (DSP), said the Abraka Police Division had brought the situation under control, adding that investigation was on.

    “The DPO has calmed the area because he was personally on ground. Normalcy has returned to the area. As for the lorry and whoever did whatever, the Police will ensure justice is done on the matter,” he said.

     

     

     

  • Truck lands on cars after falling off Berger Bridge

    A Pay Loader truck yesterday fell off the Berger Bridge in Lagos and landed on two cars.

    The Nation gathered that two cars were damaged in the accident, which happened around 9am.

    The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority Response Unit (LRU) were at the scene.

    A  LASTMA official said he heard of the incident on Traffic Radio around 9am and immediately ordered the officials close to the scene to go there.

    “The information I have regarding the accident is that the Pay Loader entered from the bridge and fell. The LRU came to the scene for rescue but it could not, so it left because it could not lift the Pay Loader because it was heavy.  The accident did not cause traffic. Nobody died.”

    Another LASTMA official said he was ordered by his boss to go to the scene.

    “I was told that it was caused by break failure, although I did not see any sign of brake failure. I did not see nor heard that anybody died or was injured.”

    A passerby, Yinka injured his hand while assisting a motorist to pull out what hooked the door of the car. “He injured in his hand andwas bleeding. He left the scene,” an eyewitness said.

     

  • Truck overloading against regulations, barrier to prosperity – Fashola

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, says overloading of trucks is against road safety rules and regulations and constitutes barrier to prosperity and national development.

    Fashola said this on Monday in Abuja during a one-day public enlightenment programme on developments in the road sector organised by the ministry.

    “Why the temptation to overload trucks against regulation and good practice may be appealing, it is ultimately a barrier to prosperity.

    “Such practices may provide cheap and perhaps corrupt riches and income in the short term but they do more damage to our roads for which the cheap income is made.

    “Those who engage in it prosper at the expense of others, this means that in the short run, the road is lost and the opportunities it offers diminishes,” he said.

    He said the enlightenment programme was for stakeholders to recognise that they were actors of the change that would lead the country to prosperity.

    According to him, all over the world, one common trend to prosperity is the level of compliance to laws and regulations for every nation that prosper; there is high level of compliance.

    “In those societies, where there is high level of compliance, what you are likely to see is that the trucks are parked in proper parks and those parks create secondary opportunities to create jobs.

    “You will not see trucks parked on the highways which impede access and opportunities; you will see trucks carrying the specified tonnage of cargo because they want the load protected,” he added.

    He said the programme was for the stakeholders to brainstorm on ways to optimise the opportunities to be created by network of roads within the ECOWAS sub-region.

    “This meeting will deliberate on how we can optimise opportunities that lie in road network like the trans-Sahara highway which connects Nigeria to Chad, Niger Republic, Tunisia, Republic of Mali and Algeria.

    “We will indeed see how we can optimise the opportunities that lie along the Lagos to Abidjan highway that runs through the Republic of Benin, Togo and Ghana,” he added.

    Speaking, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) commended the ministry for the programme.

    He said the public enlightenment for stakeholders ahead of the federal government plan to commence enforcement of the regulations was a step in the right direction.

    He said the commission arrests an average of 200 vehicles daily for excessive overloading, adding that the enlightenment would enhance the operation of FRSC.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other stakeholders at the programme commended the federal government for the initiative and pledged their support to ensure full compliance.

    The stakeholders at the event included the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD). (NAN)

  • Truck kills security man

    A truck bearing granite yesterday morning killed a security man after veering off its lane at the Obantoko stretch of the Abeokuta – Ibadan road and ramming into a building.

    The truck marked LSD 308 XG was said to have run into the security chalet, damaged it and killing the security man inside.

    The Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, who confirmed the accident, said the truck had a break failure and rammed into the security post of the building before killing the security man.

    “There was a brake failure on the part of the Iveco truck loaded with granite having white head and blue bucket with registration number LSD 308 XG. It rammed into the security chalet of a building.

    “A security man of the said building died and his remains have been taken to the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abeokuta.”

  • Niger gets only one truck in two days

    Niger gets only one truck in two days

    Niger State got only one truck of petrol in the past two days, Sunday Senchi, Head of Department of Petroleum Resources operations (DPR) stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after inspecting some filling stations in Minna metropolis.

    He said only three filling stations dispensed petrol on Tuesday.

    Senchi explained that as at 12pm yesterday,  no allocation had been sent to the state.

    The DPR official said the state needed an allocation of about 30 to 40 trucks daily to end the scarcity.

    He explained that the department is monitoring filling stations to ensure that those with petroleum products dispense to motorists.

    Niger State has two NNPC depots in Minna and Suleja towns.

    Senchi warned that the department would not hesitate to dispense products free to motorists from any filling station caught hoarding.

    According to him, the department will also ensure that no filling station sell above the government approved prices of N145 per litre.

    At the Maitumbi area of Minna, stations such as Muhabat, First Ja’az Global Resources limited and Mutmusa Nig limited were selling above pump price when NAN correspondent visited the area yesterday.

    Motorists spend days at the NNPC Mega station, which is the only one selling at N145 per litre.

    Kabiru Abdullahi, a resident of Sauka Kahuta, told NAN that he spent two nights to get the product at the NNPC Mega station.

    He said that the scarcity was affecting the daily activities of residents.

    Hawkers were seen around filling stations making brisk business as five litres of petrol was sold at N3,500 to N 4,000 depending on the location.

    Abdulkarim Bello of Ahmadu Bello way told NAN that the task force set up by the NSCDC should redouble their efforts at ending scarcity.

    He also called on the state government to continue to monitor the products distribution to end diversion by marketers.

  • Truck crushes roadside vulcaniser, friend in Ogun

    Truck crushes roadside vulcaniser, friend in Ogun

    A roadside vulcaniser and his friend have been crushed to death at a shop in Oke Ore, near Owode in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State.

    The incident occurred yesterday when a truck driver lost control of the wheel, veered off the road and ran over the two men.

    The accident reportedly occurred around 10 a.m, causing tension in the area.

    Angry and grieving youths attempted to torch the truck, forcing operatives of the State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) to suspend rescue operation and retreated to safety.

    The vulcaniser and his friend, whose identities could not be established last night, were said to be discussing when the fatal truck suddenly sprang from their rear and ran over them.

    They died on the scene.

    Also, TRACE spokesman Babatunde Akinbiyi said two persons died in the accident while two others – the truck driver and his boy – were injured.

    “The truck (driver) lost control and ran over the roadside vulcaniser. The area is tense at the moment. Operatives have to move back a bit as soldiers and police officers are being contacted.

    “The driver and his motor boy were injured and taken to Iya Kayode Hospital at Oke Ore while one of the presumed dead has been taken away by his family.”