It is arguably the saddest scene of the week for many road users, where Dangote truck crushed a white colour space wagon, and a Volks wagen yellow commercial bus popularly known as LT at tollgate Ota, along Lagos Abeokuta Express way. The spot where the accident occur, has recorded scores of many others which has claims lives of innocent road users. In most of the accident cases recorded around this same area, one thing has always been the reason – Brake failure. Well-meaning Nigerians are beginning to ask questions, why must it be Dangote Trucks all the time, why must it be brake failure all the time?
Well, government agencies have tried to look into the matter over time but is quite obvious all they have done has yielded no result or they have deliberately chosen to look the other way especially with main reason why Dangote trucks has been tagged Number one Killing machine in Nigeria. Seven people were feared dead while ten were injured during the multiple accidents involving three vehicles.
A quick chat with some other truck drivers at the scene of the accident, especially with some who claim have work with the said company before reveals fact governmet need to take seriously if found to be truth. According to one driver ……….he said……this will continue to happen until the company stop to overload the trucks and Road safety officials are fully prepared to carry out full inspection as regard over loading. A truck driver who prefer to stay anonymous, said he once work with the company and he has been victim of similar accident before along Ilaro Road, Ogun State. According to him he said his truck was overloaded beyond the specified tons for the truck. When he was descending down the road the brake couldn’t hold the tyres as a result heavy pressure on the truck. He said he only manage to turn to the bush….. where the truck tumbled but no life was lost.
Another truck driver who as well prefer to stay anonymous too said, for him ……. the recruiting process for drivers in the company is extremely terrible. Many of the drivers are stack illiterate, who have no value for their own lifes and that of other road users. Sometimes they will tell you, if I kill you nothing will happen. No training what so ever is usually given to them before mounting the steering. Go around the states you will see how abandoned Dangote trucks littering every Police station, yet this company is not the only company in Nigeria that run a fleet system.
However, a mob was said to have set the truck ablaze after the incident.
The Injured victims were rescued to Ota General Hospital, while the corpses of the dead victims were deposited at the IFO General Hospital Morgue in Ogun State.
The FRSC is still at the scene managing the incident and has contacted the Fire Service to extinguish the inferno to make rescue operations faster.
Confirming the incident, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun State Command Clement Oladele commiserated with the relations of the victims warning road users to always exercise caution at the affected area being a black spot notable for frequent crashes, which has claimed over 40 lives in the last five years.
Just like the regular sermon, He called on drivers of articulated vehicles to drive cautiously at the corridor.
The Sector Commander advised passersby to desist from taking laws into their hands by willfully destroying public properties or accident vehicles, irrespective of the level of provocations, urging them to embrace the best practices of handling and reporting grievances to appropriate law enforcement agencies.
Oladele attributed the suspected causes of the incident to over-speeding and mechanical deficiency suspected to be brake failure.
Why the country is faced with different challenges claiming lifes of innocent Nigerians both young and old, some death cases are avoidable., if only government agencies are up to speed with their work and see life of the citizenry as something very precious.
