Ojodu Truck Accident: 2 Students Dead, 12 Injured, Erring Driver Arrested – Lagos Police Spokesman
Lagos state police command have said two students died and 12 injured in an accident that occurred on Tuesday afternoon at Grammar School, Ojodu-Berger area of the State.
In a statement by Adekunle Ajisebutu, the police spokesperson, on Tuesday, the victims are students of Bab Fafunwa Millennium School, Ojodu, formerly Ojodu Grammar School.
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The police figures differ from that by witnesses who say at least 13 school children were killed in the accident. Some reports cited witnesses who put the figure at 17.
Mr Ajisebutu said around 2:15 p.m., a DAF truck with Registration No. APP 438 YA driven by one Bolaji Kabiru, rammed into some pedestrians, resulting in casualties.
He stated;
As a result of the accident, two males died on the spot, seven females and five males totalling 12 victims sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Corpses of the dead students (identity not yet known) were evacuated with the support of officers of the FRSC and were deposited at the Morgue of the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, for autopsy.
Mr Ajisebutu, a chief superintendent of police, said traffic officers and other responders were deployed to the scene.
He said the injured students were taken to God’s Apple City Hospital; St. Michael Hospital; and Lagos State Emergency Hospital, Toll Gate.
The police spokesman noted;
The erring driver has been apprehended and kept in police custody. However, the angry students who were later joined by hoodlums set the accident vehicle ablaze.
Mr Ajisebutu added that the students and hoodlums also attacked the Ojodu Police Station in their large numbers, “demanding the release of the driver for jungle justice.”
He stressed;
When their demand was not met, they became violent. In the process, they destroyed four vehicles parked in the premises of the police station and another mobile truck on the highway.
Recall that following the tragic accident, youths protested the death of the students, destroying cars and other properties in sight.
Mr Ajisebutu said to avoid a total breakdown of law and order, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, ordered the deployment of policemen comprising tactical teams, Rapid Response Squad and others to the scene.
“The protesters were professionally dispersed with minimum force without resulting in any further injury,” Mr Ajisebutu said.
While commiserating with the bereaved families, Mr Odumosu appealed to sympathisers and other members of the public to allow the police to carry out a proper investigation.
Meanwhile, Lagos sector of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had also said officers were not present at the scene when the accident occurred.
The men of FRSC were called upon by passerby to help intervene after the crash had happened.
Olabisi Sonusi, the spokesperson of the agency said;
About seven (7) of the victims were rescued and immediately taken to Lagos State Emergency Centre Ojota by FRSC personnel while another road user helped in carrying about seven (7) also to the same emergency centre.
