The Army authorities, yesterday, in Lagos, said the Lance
Corporal who was knocked down and killed by a BRT bus
along Ikorodu Road last Friday, was not riding motorbike on
the BRT lane as widely reported.
Rather, the deceased, according to the Army, was crushed to
death on the normal lane plied by other motorists, maintaining
also that soldiers were not responsible for the damage done to
BRT buses but hoodlums who hijacked the situation.
This is just as the Nigerian Army has taken a swipe at Nobel
laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, over a statement credited to him
describing the Army as ‘mad,’ while reacting to the incident at
a public function last week.
Army blasts Soyinka
The army in a statement made available to newsmen and
signed by the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations,
Lieutenant Colonel Omale Ochagwuba, said: “In a situation
where a respected elder statesman will stand up in a public
function and based on hear-say call a respected professional
organisation like the Nigerian Army which is one of the major
pillars of democracy and fighting to keep the country together
as mad, is unfortunate and unbecoming.
“In less than a week, he has made two careless offensive
statements. At times, he seems to speak before weighing the
consequences of his statement.
“The Nigerian Army is a professional force which is law-abiding
like any other citizen. The military is a highly disciplined
organisation which also takes necessary steps to see that its
erring members are brought to book at any time the need
arises to enforce discipline.”
How the soldier was killed
To set the records straight, Ochagwuba explained that: “On
July 4, a Lance Corporal of Nigerian Army, who was on his way
to the office on Ikorodu Road around Obanikoro area between
6:30 and 6:45am, was knocked down and killed by a BRT bus
with number plate KSF 995 XJ.
“It is pertinent to state here that the late soldier was riding
a power bike approved by the state government and he was
neither riding inside a BRT lane nor was the BRT bus that
killed him driving inside the BRT lane.
“The innocent law-abiding soldier was killed on the normal lane
being plied by everybody as against what is being alleged by
some sections of the media. The soldier was hit from the rear
and killed instantly.
“As stated earlier in our release, the mayhem visited on the
BRT buses was the handiwork of hoodlums who seized the
opportunity of the tragic situation to vent their anger on the
buses for reasons best known to them.
“We know the peculiar nature of Lagos where miscreants
always take advantage of situations like this to cause havoc.
“In a situation like this, people are bound to wrongfully accuse
soldiers because they were seen around the offending bus
which was not even attacked. With careful analysis of the
incident, one will observe that the BRT buses vandalised were
far removed from the scene of the accident.
Soldiers wrongly accused
“It is pertinent to once more remind the good people of Lagos
that the BRT bus in question that killed the soldier and
triggered the tragic consequences was neither vandalised nor
burnt.
“It was same soldiers who are being wrongfully accused of
burning buses and causing mayhem, which is not true, that
secured the BRT bus and protected it from hoodlums before it
was later towed into the barracks for safety and also
prevented the hoodlums from causing further mayhem on the
road and cleared the route for traffic to flow.
“We have pictures of the bus at the scene of the accident and
while it was being towed away to safety. The bus in question
has since been released to the BRT management.
“The question begging for answer now is: why is the bus itself
that killed the soldier which was already in soldiers hands not
vandalised or burnt? Is it not logical that, it should have been
the first target of their anger as alleged?
“These are hard times for Nigerians and all hands should be on
the deck to bring peace to the country rather than inflame
passion. The Lagos State Government, which is supposed to be
the most aggrieved party, did not jump into conclusions. The
Lagos State Government said they are investigating. That is a
matured way of handling situation rather than reacting on
public opinion.”

respected professionalorganisation like the Nigerian ArmyLol Nigerians can lie eh!
Isnt it time they realise that there is camera phone everywhere nd ppl re now beginning to make use of it.. pictures showed soldiers hitting buses windscreen...

They should have stick to a story that some of their members acted in a hoodlum way nd will be punish for that..it sound better than this bullcrap

And why trying to attack soyinka? Why not jst explain ur lies or stfu!

dont mind them....those mofos still think we r in d military era. #in fela's voice...zombie o zombie

This is just one thing i lov about d Nigerian Army.

SOLIDARITY.
Let this happen to a police officer or a group of officers. Next u will hear is the Commissioner or d p.r.o detaining all that should b on duty as @d time of the report.
Meanwhile, I am not exhonorating the soldiers. Its obvious that eye witnesses would av better evidence. About Wole soyinka, The man should b patient when it relates to public matters. Reliable info and counter proof even wt d aid of d media makes tokin on national issues more difficult. You may hear dat Bokoharam kidnapped gals, tomorrow, dey tell u it was children dat were kidnapped. Nigeria, na wa o

Who dash dem pillar of democracy?

Media Officers of Nigerian Army are terrible liars, I do not know whether they are specially trained to tell bare-faced lies.

Every morning at Anthony bus stop just around where Oshodi bound vehicles switch from the express lane to the service lane, one sees a lot of soldiers on bikes and also in their cars and buses switching from the express lane to the BRT lane on sighting traffic hold-up ahead. This makes one wonder if they are special citizens who are above the law of the land.

Since this incident happened, I have not seen them on BRT lanes but I know it is a matter of time before they resume their lawlessness!

Nigerian army re bunch of liars,what I actually saw with my korokoro eyes,now I knw d reason they re smashing fones,mumu ppls briss don blow nd we don see fowl yansh

The Army should just pay the bill for the destroyed buses. We are not asking who destroyed them, we all know who did.