Lagos Container Tragedy Could Have Been Averted – Witnesses

The three persons who lost their lives in the accident at Ojuelegba in Lagos would have being alive today if the trailer driver had listened to wise counsel. The container-laden 40-feet trailer fell of the Ojuelegba Bridge on Western Avenue, Surulere, Lagos, and landed two vehicles, a Nissan Murano and a Nissan Sunny.The impact of the container crushed the three adult occupants of the Nissan Murano vehicle while the lone occupant of the Nissan Sunny car escaped. A witness, Mr Clinton Okoroafor, yesterday narrated how he tried in vain to stop the trailer before the accident. Okoroafor, who is a cab operator, told a radio programme said he was trailing the truck on Funso Williams Avenue inward Ojuelegba when he noticed that the container had shifted and was swaying dangerously.

His views were corroborated by a top official of the Federal Fire Service at Ojuelegba. Speaking further on the twohour programme monitored by our correspondent, Okoroafor said he overtook the truck and forced it to a halt near Area ‘C’ Police Command at Barracks bus stop. He added that he was challenged by some other motorists.

Although he tried to get them to join him in preventing the truck from moving forward, he said they hurled insults at him. Okoroafor recalled that the trailer driver and his assistant also threatened to attack him. He said: “The other motorists were asking me why I was concerned about the dangling container.

They asked me to get off the road, that I was causing traffic.”

The witness said he took photographs of the trailer and nearby landmarks, including a church, before driving away.

Okoroafor said when he got to the foot of Ojuelegba Bridge, he tried to draw the attention of an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to the swaying container but he was ignored. He said that but for the uncooperative attitude of the other motorists, the accident would have been averted.

Meanwhile, the residents, traders and commercial bus drivers at Ojuelegba under bridge have called Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to ban all articulated vehicles plying the bridge henceforth or enforce the law directing them to move at night. A fire service officer at Ojuelegba, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the situation as a menace which could lead to more deaths if not checked.

He said: “Yesterday (Wednesday), we saw the rickety trailer with container tied on it. We had suspected that the container might fall off, but it was not on our reference duty to flag down vehicles. LASTMA officials too saw the truck. “It was not up to three minutes later that the truck fell off the bridge. I think it is high time the law restricting them to move only at nights was enforced or the Lagos State Government should ban trucks from using bridges.”

A commercial driver, who simply gave his name as Ugo, said he had witnessed accidents several times in the area.

He said: “You recall some months back, a truck skidded off the bridge. Thank God, nobody or buses picking passengers were affected. This time around it was a container. “If these trucks are not wellchecked and maintained at the ports, they would always cause accident on the road. Sometimes the containers are not well latched. In such situation, anything can happen.”