National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Tayo Olanipekun
No fewer than 11 persons were reportedly killed in motor accidents on the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Lagos on Wednesday, sources have told National Wire.
Mangled remains of two of the cars as well as an articulated vehicle involved in the accidents were still at the Frajend and Alahun ends of the highway where the accidents occurred when our correspondent visited.
The locations of the accidents are about 22 kilometers away from the Lekki Free Trade Zone where the billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, sited his refinery that is touted to be the largest in Africa.
Eye witnesses told National wire that the two accidents happened between 7am and 9am of the same day.
Police sources who preferred anonymity also said the two accidents occurred less than two hours apart within a distance of less than 100 metres on each side of the busy highway.
According to an eyewitness who operates a lottery (Baba Ijebu) terminal near the spots, the articulated vehicle driver could not bring his truck to a halt at Alahun bus stop when he encountered a broken down vehicle on the highway and subsequently swerved to the other side of the road before he rammed into an oncoming vehicle it crushed beyond recognition, killing the five persons on board.
“The driver of the truck and his assistants fled the scene immediately after the incident to avoid lynching,” the loto shop owner told our correspondent.
The second incident that involved a Volkswagen Passat salon car with registration number Lagos GGE 259 CY, run over sometime before 7am by another articulated vehicle said to belong to the Dangote Group at the Frajend bus stop, also killed the six persons on board.
“The driver of the Dangote truck was said to have escaped in spite of all efforts people made to apprehend him after the incident,” said a police source who also preferred anonymity.
The police at the Elemoro Police Station at Bogije, a five-minutes drive from the scenes of the accidents, did not confirm the information officially.
The police officer said to be in charge of the case, Inspector Joseph, to whom our correspondent was referred by the Divisional Traffic Officer, was said by sources to have accompanied the corpses to the morgue.
National Wire was unable to confirm the two other accidents said to have occurred at Awoyaya and Ajah on the same day along the same road, as well as the casualty figure.
“On this road alone, four vehicular accidents happened today with about 20 casualties according to reports,” a source said at the station.
It is recalled that vehicles and houses as well as other properties were also on Wednesday consumed in an early morning fire that was occasioned by the activities of pipeline vandals who scooped fuel from petroleum installations at the Abule Egba area of Lagos.
Calls made to the phone number of the Police Public Relations Officer, Chike Otti were not answered before filling this report.
