How Mobs Destroyed 47 BRT Buses in Lagos, Suspects Arrested (Pictured)
Category: Lagos News
There was mayhem in Maryland, Lagos, yesterday when a hawker was crushed by a truck.
According to information gathered, his colleagues went wild, destroying
about 47 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses belonging to Primero Transport
Service Ltd and several others owned by LAGBUS Asset Management.
The debris of the buses filled the road from Maryland to Obanikoro.
Eyewitnesses said the eyeglasses hawker
was trying to evade arrest by Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials
when he ran into the truck’s path.
The accident, which happened around
1.15pm, caused a traffic gridlock, which stretched from the Maryland
Independence Tunnel to Fadeyi.
An eyewitness said: “KAI officials
pursued the guy who tried to run away with his wares, but he was hit by a
truck which was on high speed.
But another witness said the hawker ran into a Honda vehicle and was crushed.
He said: “What I saw was a Honda vehicle
which was on high speed. It hit the guy when he was running towards the
other side of the road and he died immediately while his intestine came
out. Immediately the vehicle owner realised he had killed someone, he
parked and stepped out to sympathise with the guy’s fellow hawkers but
he was later asked to leave as many people reasoned it was not his fault
but KAI’s who pursued him to death.”
A mob barricaded both sides of the road, hindering motorists’ movement.
The mob, The Nation learnt, chased away the first and second batches of policemen that arrived on the scene.
To escape from the mob, some drivers
were said to have abandoned their buses and fled. Others manoeuvred
their way out of the mayhem.
Some hawkers told The Nation:
“Those KAI officials are wicked people. Can you imagine how cruel they
are? The innocent man had already obeyed them by running away to avoid
being punished but they kept chasing him till he was killed by a car.
Immediately they saw that the car had knocked him down, they drove off
speedily. We are all human beings and we are not happy with the
situation. We need to let the government know that we can’t take the
injustice. Therefore, venting our anger on the buses is the best way to
let them know what they have done is bad. The poor man is gone but we
will make sure all the buses that would ply this road today must pay for
his death.”
A driver with Primero Transport Service
Ltd, Mr Adedeji Adeosun, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN): “I was
in traffic for about 20 minutes at Maryland. Then I saw some people
running from Maryland and I opened the door to see what was happening. I
heard shouts from people that we should come down, so, I immediately
removed my uniform. I saw about 100 of the hoodlums otherwise called
‘area boys’ coming with stones and so I ran away.
“All the passengers on board my bus also came down and ran for dear life. I was hit by a big stone”.
Another driver, Mr Michael Onabolu,
said: “I saw people running and shouting that I should come down from
the bus. And all of a sudden, I saw some guys surrounding the buses and
asking my passengers and I to come down. Before I knew it, one of them
hit the bus with a big stone and I could not move because of the
traffic. I was wounded on my hands and my thighs with stones’’.
He said the passenger beside him was
also hit by a stone, adding that all the passengers were moved to other
buses to continue their journey.
A commuter, Mr Elijah Omotayo, said the mob attacked their driver for not opening the doors.
Omotayo, a student, told NAN: “They started throwing stones and one of the stones hit my head”.
Primero Ltd Managing Director Mr Fola
Tinubu, expressed displeasure over the incident, saying: “We don’t know
what happened, whatever it is; it is something that has to do with the
government or the police. But does that give aggrieved people the right
to destroy private property”.
He added: “People are saying that there
are no jobs in Nigeria; we have created over 2,000 jobs in the last six
months. Is this the reward we will get for it? We need to start asking
ourselves serious questions in this country. They have destroyed over 14
of our buses now. I don’t even know how many they have destroyed now.
For what, what did we do? I am angry. I don’t even know where to begin
because there is no justification for destroying private property; our
service is for the masses. Do you know how many people will be stranded
today if we don’t go out to pick them up? How are they going to get
home? We do this for the masses. Is this the reward that we will get?
This is madness.”
Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) Communications Director Mr Kola Ojelabi told The Nation last night that about 47 BRT buses were destroyed.
This, he said, was more than 10 per cent of the numbers of buses on that route.
A combined team of soldiers and policemen restored law and order before traffic started moving again.
They used tyres and big stones to shield the body to ensure free flow of traffic.
Source: The Nation
Related Posts via Categories:
- Lagos State Government Releases Statement About Street Hawker Knocked Down By Truck
- Lagos State Government Shuts Down 70 Churches, 20 Mosques, 11 Hotels Over Noise Pollution
- DRAMA! Okada Man Strips Naked During Struggle With Man-O-War Officers in Lekki (Photos)
- Computer Teacher Arrested For Raping School Girl For Months In Lagos
- Notorious Awawa Cult Members Specialized in Terrorizing and Raping Young Girls in Lagos Arrested
- Photos: Suspected Militants Attack Communities in Ikorodu, Kill Five
- Photos: Man Knocks Down Thief Who Robbed Him With His Car in Lagos
- Dead Body Found in Lekki Phase One
- Woman Sentenced to 4 Years Imprisonment For Cutting Her 12 Year Old Niece With Blade
- Robbers Who Specializes in Breaking Padlocks with Charm Nabbed in Lagos (Photos)
Send stories for publishing to admin@ackcity.net
Be Our Fan On Facebook
Follow Us @ACKCITY On Twitter
BB: 568235DD
Channel Pin: C00352CD2
WhatsApp: (234) 08105649346
Call: (234) 08105649346, 08121807240, 09081122570
E-mail: info@ackcity.net
No comments