http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20277:48-feared-killed-20-cars-burnt-in-lagos-edo-road-tragedies&catid=1:national&Itemid=559


CALAMITY struck at the weekend in Lagos, Edo and Jigawa states with about 42 people feared dead and 200 houses destroyed in multiple road accidents and heavy flooding.
In Lagos, two separate accidents left no fewer than 31 people dead while 18 lost their lives on the Benin-Auchi-Abuja road.
Also, torrential rains yesterday displaced many residents of Jahun in Jigawa State, sweeping away many communities in the town and destroying buildings and property worth millions of Naira.
Meanwhile, rehabilitation of the Lagos-Ibadan Highway, scene of yesterday’s accident which is to be embarked upon by Bi-Courtney Nigeria Limited, will begin in October.
Bi-Courtney had signed a concession agreement with the Federal Government in August 2009 to design, build, operate and transfer the highway, which was constructed some 25 years ago.
By the agreement, Bi-Courtney is to expand the road to four lanes from Lagos to Sagamu Interchange and three lanes from the Interchange to Ibadan.
Travellers, mostly worshippers coming from the just concluded annual convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) were shocked, some shedding tears, others blaming the police, as they watched roasted human bodies involved in the multiple accidents along the Lagos-Ibadan Highway which occurred at about 10.00 a.m. The tragedy happened between the Mobil Filling Station and Otedola Estate Junction yesterday.
In another incident, motorists and residents along Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, Lagos were also in tears as they watched the body of a young lady crushed with 11 others writhing in pains when a commercial bus marked XX476-FKJ somersaulted thrice while the driver tried to overtake a Honda car marked DU 348-GGE.
The bus was said to have picked passengers at NARCO Bus stop and was going to Mile 2 when the accident occurred a few metres from Junction Bus stop.
No fewer than 30 people including the 14 passengers inside one of the commercial buses travelling from Ketu in Lagos State to Mowe in Ogun State, an infant who was strapped with seat belt by his parents and others died in the accident on the Lagos-Ibadan highway. The accident involved 16 vehicles, an articulated truck said to belong to the Dangote Group, three loaded commercial buses, two Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV), two taxicabs and others. It happened near Otedola Housing Estate and was alleged to have been caused by a police road block mounted right in the middle of the highway.
A survivor and driver of one of the commercial buses, Aliyu Yekini, blamed the disaster on the police check-point.
According to him: “Most of the vehicles involved were on high speed but suddenly ran into the police check-point. The articulated vehicle, one of the trailers fully loaded with goods was on top speed and could not apply the brake. The driver ran into other vehicles and there was an explosion.
“When I saw the explosion, I quickly opened the door and jumped out likewise my conductor, leaving the passengers. The rest I saw was the flame of fire and the odour of roasted human flesh.”
Another survivor, Akeem, could not describe how he escaped but the only thing he remembered was the deafening sound of an explosion followed by fire and the multiple crashes.
“Apart from few of us who escaped, the rest victims could not be identified. They were all burnt beyond recognition. It was the fault of the police officers. They were fond of mounting check-points in the middle of the road for no other reasons than to extort money.”
But for the timely intervention of the police, an angry mob was set to protest the illegal checkpoint on the highway. Lagosians including journalists were prevented by armed policemen from moving close to the scene including those who came to verify whether their relatives were involved in the accident.
A survivor in the second accident in Lagos, Lynus Anyim, said it happened at about 3.45 p.m.
He said: “Our driver was on top speed. He was about to overtake the car in front of him when he suddenly lost control. The bus somersaulted thrice crushing the head of the lady seated beside the door while we all sustained serious injuries.”
Both accidents led to serious traffic snarls in both areas yesterday. For several hours, vehicles travelling to and from Ibadan were held in a standstill as officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and a team of police officers controlled the traffic. It was a similar situation along Murtala Mohammed International Airport Road.
The Assistant Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Fadipe Razak Idowu told The Guardian: “We had the information at about 11.19 a.m. and when we rushed down here, about 20 vehicles were involved and about 10 were already on fire. There were human blood dripping all over the place. We were able to rescue some and took them to the hospitals. The cause was attributed to the driver of the articulated vehicle whose break failed.”
The LASTMA boss, Dr. Femi Osonyintoly said: “It is a pathetic situation and all the related stakeholders are on ground to manage the situation. We cannot really talk of the cause now since we are really interested on the rescue situation at hand.”
In the Edo accident, men of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) were said to be handicapped as their patrol vehicles were burnt by irate students of Auchi Polytechnic a few weeks ago when a policeman allegedly shot dead one of their colleagues.
One of the victims of the accident, Cyril Oboga, who is receiving treatment in a hospital, blamed the driver of his vehicle for the accident.
He said: “I can’t say exactly what happened because it was as if he was drunk from the way he was driving. They first collected money from us at Angle 90 Park in Auchi because there was no available bus but they said they would call another driver to bring a bus. It was some time before they brought the bus. The driver stopped for about three times on the way, first for a girl that was vomiting and in another village at Ekpoma.
“After a short while, I slept off though I am not used to sleeping, but I had to. The next thing I heard was a loud bang and people started shouting and I found myself on the ground. Two people, a man and woman in the red bus died instantly on the spot but in our own bus, which was going to Lagos a lot of people broke legs with serious injuries.”
Mr. Olusegun Ahmadu, Chairman, Project Implementation Committee, Highway Services of Bi-Courtney said in Lagos that everything has been put in place to ensure that the road is put into proper shape for smooth ride by the public.
The company, he said, was not unmindful of the importance of the road as a major link to other parts of the country, adding that the company is doing everything possible to ensure that travelling on the road is enjoyable and stress free.
He said that the intervention would involve repairing of failed sections, resurfacing and creating proper right of way. All the traffic bottlenecks, including illegal trailer parks in Ibafo, Ogere and Ibadan would be removed.
Ahmadu noted that discussions had been held with the trailer drivers as well as other stakeholders, including community leaders, religious groups, traffic management authorities, transport unions and the police on the need to free the road from unnecessary traffic congestion.
In place of the present illegal parks, Bi-Courtney, he said would put in place a Trailer Plaza equipped with modern facilities like filling stations, auto mart, mechanical workshop, shopping malls, rest areas (hotels) for the convenience of the drivers.
In addition, cameras are to be mounted at strategic places along the route to monitor human and vehicular activities, which will help to support efforts of security agencies in combatting crimes on the road.
The company, he said, would construct pedestrian bridges, interchanges to ease intra community movement in view of the massive construction work going on in the corridor and the rapid relocation of people to the area.
According to him, Bi-Courtney has been adding value to the road even before now by repairing the failed sections, removal of broken-down vehicles from the road and even clearing the Right of Way from Lagos to Ibadan to reduce traffic congestion.
Meanwhile, officials of the company, FRSC, Ogun State Traffic Management Unit were on hand to control traffic on the ever busy road during the week long National Convention of the RCCG, which began on Monday last week and ended on Saturday.
Company officials, police and other security outfits were placed at strategic locations along the entire stretch of the road to prevent the traffic snarl that usually accompanies such a convention, which draws large crowd of faithful from all over the country.
Ahmadu who coordinated the traffic control measure expressed happiness that the company was able to free the road for motorists, adding that the experience garnered would be deployed in the future to prevent a situation whereby people will be made to spend long hours due to traffic congestion.
When The Guardian visited the Jahun Local council headquarters Jigawa State, it was observed that seven communities that included Yola, Takacici, Kabala, Alkalawa, Fandai, Fagen-Kura and Unguwar-Gangare were the most affected by the heavy flood.
No fewer than 200 houses were affected by the disaster as most of the affected residents were seen taking refuge in other parts of the
town that were not affected.
One of the victims, Mallam Shehu Bala Adamu who spoke to The Guardian indicated that his family and himself have since become refugees in a nearby town, Kofar-Gabas, as a result of the disaster.
Adamu pointed out that the cause of the flood is the fact that there is no good drainage in Jahun, adding that despite the fact that they had lodged complaint several times in the past, with the authorities, nothing has been done to salvage the situation.
He disclosed that the flood has destroyed his house and property worth N300,000.
Chairman of the local council, Alhaji Idris Iliyasu Dan-Lawan pointed out that the council has directed its community department to carry out an emergency work in the affected areas by draining the water out of the affected areas.
Dan-Lawan added that, the council has also lodged its complaints with the state Emergency Relief Agency and the state Ministry of Environment for their respective actions.
The state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmad Mahmod, who visited the affected areas, directed the state Ministry of Environment to quick