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Jakumo (m)
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One of the most alarming local traditions that a visitor to Southwest Nigeria may have the misfortune of witnessing is that which takes place on city and town main roads to mark the death of a professional driver. After fortifying themselves with cheap alcohol, associates of the deceased driver get behind the wheels of their vehicles, be they taxis, tipper trucks or 18-wheeler tractor trailer semis, and then the madness commences in earnest.
Carried out in full view of the police, a speeding convoy of vehicles sets forth with its drivers deliberately swerving wildly across all lanes as they careen through the main thoroughfares of towns and cities, often with the corpse of the departed strapped precariously to the hood of the lead vehicle, scattering oncoming traffic like chickens, and more than occasionally hitting pedestrians and the vehicles of unsuspecting road users in the melee. Additional deaths sustained by celebrant drivers in the funeral procession are amazingly considered grounds to schedule yet more kamikaze rallies, regardless of the utterly predictable cause and effect carnage already recorded.
The fact that this sort of spontaneous breakdown of civil order can occur in full view of Nigerian law enforcement agencies is powerful testimony to the state of affairs in that country even today in 2007.
Should convoys of vehicles be permitted to deliberately wreak terror and steer into collisions on Nigerian public roads in the name of "tradition " ? What is your opinion ?
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Seun (m)
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First time I'm hearing about this practice. Thanks for sharing. Moving to Auto section.
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Jakumo (m)
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Convoys of kamikaze taxis I have seen from the roadside with mine own scared eyes, Seun, but big truck drivers do apparently hit the streets the exact same way to mark funerals, and that I hope never to encounter when I'm there.
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ikamefa (f)
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@topic what part of the south west in what state/s exactly?  |
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Jakumo (m)
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Funeral assault-convoy runs are reportedly rampant in Ikorodu, Lagos State, as well as in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, to name but a few towns in that geographical area.
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Kashif (m)
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I have seen with my own eyes in Aba, Abia state. What I saw was naked madnes and amplified recklesness. I saw buses - alive, in coma, dead, flying too low in streets with full headlamp beams. You dare not stay close.
One of the drivers jumped out of his bus stark naked!! You can't imagine that? I though I would hear that one/some of them died out of the 'demonstration' following day, but heard nothing!
A similar thing was when I saw okada driversriders stage solidarity. No be small thing.
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Jakumo (m)
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Thank you for that contribution, Kashif. Obviously this madness is being practiced in other parts of Nigeria besides the south west.
If murderous funeral convoys are a nationwide phenomenon, then it is about time government holds the leadership of Nigerias road transport unions criminally liable for any damage, death or injury caused by these automotive street assaults.
An official stop to this sort of anarchy is certainly long overdue. That is for sure.
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Jakumo (m)
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Less than a week ago in the town of Shagamu, Ogun State, a homicidal funeral convoy of dilapidated taxis, driven by drunk shirt-less men, assembled on a street in front of the local police station and proceeded to swerve and careen at insane speeds all over the road in the usual fashion, but this time the route chosen took the convoy towards the nearby expressway, which was busy with heavy traffic heading to and from Lagos.
A fully laden petrol tanker approached the Shagamu intersection along the expressway at highway speed, and was suddenly confronted by swarms of speeding, swerving taxis driven by drunk funeral celebrants on both sides of the expressway. In a futile attempt to avoid the mad taxi horde that had invaded the highway in front of his speeding petrol tanker, the driver of the 18-wheeler juggernaut lost control and crashed into a row of roadside buildings, igniting a monstrous triple explosion that incinerated 25 vehicles along with numerous buildings on both sides of the highway.
Astonishingly, no corpses were found in the charred rubble of the explosion and resultant fire-storm, but that does not preclude the possibility that a few people were burnt to ashes in the huge fire whose massive column of smoke was reportedly visible ten miles from the scene.
While this tragedy was reported in all the Nigerian newspapers, the CAUSE of the accident, namely the invasion of a major federal highway by a convoy of drunk taxi drivers, was not disclosed. Blame was placed on the petrol tanker driver who was assumed to have been driving too fast.
Again I wonder how long this sort of insanity will be condoned on Nigerian streets and highways. How much longer will Nigerian law enforcement agencies continue to turn a blind eye to this absolutely MAD practice of high speed funeral convoys terrorising road users and deliberately seeking to cause major car pile-ups on city streets, all the name of "tradition " ?
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