Contrary to the report that a BRT bus killed a soldier, the
LAGBUS Asset Management Limited, operators of LAGBUS,
on Friday explained what actually happened.

It was reported today that the Nigerian soldiers went bersek
and took to the streets to burn over 5 BRT buses said to be
worth about N100 million and beat up the bus drivers and witnesses
after one of their colleagues was allegedly killed by one of the brt
buses.

The Project Manager, Mutual Model Transports, one of the
LAGBUS Franchises, Abiodun Apata who said the attack was
unfortunate explained what happened saying the company only found a
corpse after an eventful night and went to report it to the police.

“By 10pm last night, one of our buses broke down at Onipanu; by
11pm, a rescue team with a van went to the scene to tow the bus.

“Unfortunately, area boys started stoning our team which made our
men to leave. Meanwhile, the driver put on hazard lights and C-
Caution to alert motorists of the breakdown.

“By 5am this morning, before the rescue team got to the scene, a
corpse had been deposited in our bus and a motorcycle parked behind
it.

“When we saw it, we reported the case to the Pedro Police Station,
Somolu, but before we got back to the scene, soldiers had burnt down
five BRT buses and one belonging to LAGBUS."


Meanwhile, the head of Operations of BRT, Johnson Oguntade, who
also stated the deceased soldier was not hit by a BRT vehicle, said
BRT vehicles have since been withdrawn from the streets following
the burning of the buses by raging soldiers in order to avert more
damage.

He said: “I do not still understand why we are suffering for what we
never caused. Why they are burning our buses is not known.”

As a result of the incident and withdrawal of the brt buses, thousands
of commuters were left stranded, commercial activities crippled, while
there was heavy traffic gridlock on Ikorodu road with commercial bus
operators taking advantage of the situation by increaing transport
fare by about 50 per cent, Premium Times reported.
Some of the vehicles set ablaze had been towed, while the others are
still at the scene as at the time of this report.

Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Army, Gen.
Olajide Olaleye has denied the involvement of the soldiers in the
attack:

"It’s not true that soldier destroyed buses or set any bus on fire.
What happened was that a BRT bus knocked down a soldier and killed
him. As usual in Lagos so area boys gathered and a few soldiers
stopped at the scene as well. The GOC has dispatched military
policemen to the scene to help restore law and order."
The Lagos APC Youth leader Mr. Omotayo Sanyaolu
condemned the havoc on BRT buses caused by Nigerian
Soldiers .


Sources: Naij.com news, Premium Times