By Olusegun Olanrewaju
The fatal crash, last week, of a DAF truck into a crowd of schoolchildren and pedestrians at the Grammar School bus stop in Ojodu, Lagos, which was eventually said to have claimed the lives of two students and caused injuries to 12 others, has come and gone but the memory and questions still linger.

Initial reports had stated that those 17 students were prematurely mowed down by a ravaging driver, one ‘Bolaji Kabiru’, whose name was so quoted in a press release in the aftermath of the unfortunate incident before he was rescued from lynching by security operatives.

Predictably, mayhem ensued in the wake of pictures flashing of the crash site, with piles of victims lying either dead, maimed, or whatever.

There were floods of tears, tension, and alleged attempted murderous acts of revenge, particularly on officials of the state transport management agency, LASTMA.

Hoodlums colluded with families and sympathizers to harass trailer drivers on the Ojodu-Berger axis of Lagos outskirts to the Ibadan expressway.

There were high-scale condolences from the levers of power in Lagos and Abuja as Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and President Muhammadu Buhari took the time out of their busy schedules, to pen sorry-for-the-incident messages.

But beyond the disparity in casualty figures, what happened? Were the figures correct, or doctored, as the claim went in some quarters?

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Summary report

Initial reports had claimed that either 17 or ‘several persons (to be on the safer side) had died in the immediacy of the incident whose cause (s) are yet to be determined.

The victims, according to the reports, were “crushed to death by a hit-and-run truck driver” along Ogunusi Road, Grammar School bus stop, Lagos State.

The affected on the day of blood were persons, mainly schoolchildren, who “were killed as they were going home from school after closing time and wanted to cross the road when the truck ran over them”.

The driver was chased by an angry mob to the Ogba area where he was arrested.

“I have never witnessed such a terrible scene in my life. I saw about 15 pupils lying lifeless on the floor. The incident occurred around 2 pm,” a witness said.

But in a statement released after shutting down the school to prevent further damages by the Lagos State government, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) claimed said only two persons died, died, 12 (or 14) others injured.

The FRSC had earlier denied that any of its men were involved in the incident and confirmed the arrest of the runaway driver. The names of the eventually dead were given as Adedoyin Adebayo and Akpolebi Israel.

Besides, seven females and five males were said to have sustained “varying degrees of injury”.

A press release the next day of the incident (December 8th) confirmed that the incident occurred at about 02:15 pm on that fateful day, just about the time of the closure of schools, including the imposing Babs Fafunwa Millennium School (Ojodu Grammar School), a model school.

The release headlined “Eventual of Fatal Motor/Pedestrians Accident at Ojodu Grammar School on Tuesday, December 7th, 2021” acknowledged that angry mobs were joined by hoodlums to set articulated vehicles ablaze as the violence raged.

So also, were the OJodu Police Station, other ‘articulated’ private vehicles, and operational vehicles of the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) either torched or vandalized.

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Victims were rushed to various health centers, including Royan Hospital, Aina Street; St. Michael’s Hospital, and Lagos State Emergency Hospital at the Ojota Toll Gate, for intensive care.

Reactions

Angry students went on a rampage, baying for revenge and blood. Parents panicked and protested. In a touching narrative, one of them, the mother of a 17-year-old survivor, said: “I panicked when I saw my son’s shoes at the accident scene.”

Initially, the state government did not help matters as it kept its mouth shut on comments, especially on the casualty figure.

There was a ratchet of demand, including one of a fundamental nature by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), which demanded ‘Justice’.

The umbrella national students’ body in the country described the death of students in the accident as ‘sad’.

Meanwhile, grieving parents were compelled to mobilize their students at the Ojodu Grammar School and Babs Fafunwa Millennium Senior Secondary School along Ogba-Ojodu Berger Road in Lagos State, to ‘force’ the Lagos State Government to temporarily shut the schools.

There were many students in the area at the time as they had just closed from school, close to the Ojodu Police Station, not too long before the accident happened.

Parents and guardians converged on the schools and demanded that they should be shut, and examinations discontinued.

Sympathisers said it was the protest, which started at about 8 am, that forced the state government to close the school till further notice.

Also, students in large numbers stormed the Ojodu-Berger Way along Ogunnusi Road, in protest, in reaction to the killing of their colleagues.

The irate students targeted trucks and vandalized some vehicles in the process.

However, men of the Lagos State Police Command Rapid Response Squad (RRS) were deployed to the area and later restored law and order.

Motorists were also diverted to alternative routes to avoid being caught in the gridlock.

A mother, whose son was under treatment at one of the neighbourhood hospitals, said she collapsed when she saw her son’s shoes at the scene of the accident.

She, however, berated the local and state governments for not providing any financial assistance to the injured victims.

The woman said: “A lot of people have visited, both the local government chairman, the Commissioner of Education, principal, and teachers.

“They didn’t ask me anything; they only told me to calm down and that everything will be okay.”

But another parent painted a less distressing scenario. She narrated how her family was forced to pay an initial deposit of N30,000.

“We have paid N30,000 initial deposits to the hospital. I am an Uber driver. It was my younger sister that called to inform me of the accident. I was coming from Alausa when I received the call that my son had been involved in an accident.

“So, I quickly navigated to the scene. My son attends Omole Junior Grammar School. The school principal and schoolteachers have come to the hospital to see my son. The local government chairman also came yesterday morning,” he told a reporter.

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NANS demands justice

Reacting to the incident, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Southwest Zone, yesterday, called for a thorough investigation into the role played by some security personnel and traffic-related outfits in the matter, saying any indicted person should be prosecuted.

NANS zonal co-ordinator, Kappo Samuel, said: “It is sad that the safety of the brightest and yet to be corrupted souls in Nigeria could not be protected by road safety (LASTMA/VIO) personnel whose interest is on the token to be collected from the defiant murderer (truck driver).

“The truck driver, alongside the LASTMA personnel, who worked Tuesday afternoon at Grammar School Bus Stop, along Ogba-Ojodu, collaborated to murder our future. This is coming at a period when the entire Nigerian students in the country are still mourning the death of Master Sylvester Oromoni.”

Similarly, a group of Concerned Citizens urged the Lagos State government to probe the accident and bring the culprits to book.

The shutdown

Sequel to the events that unfolded, the Lagos State government announced a shutdown of academic activities at the Ojodu Grammar School, Ojodu-Berger area.

The state Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo, announced the shutdown when she visited the school, where students had been writing exams, in the morning of Wednesday, December 8.

The truck, which was laden with laundry detergents, was subsequently set ablaze after the driver reportedly fled the scene.

Adefisayo said the state government would release an ‘explicit’ statement later in the day, containing an official death count, “and more details about what led to the tragic accident”. The citizens are still waiting to hear more.

She said: “We need the children to calm down and grieve for now. We will resume in January. It is an internal exam, so they will do tests and we will make up so they can have a continuous assessment. They’ll roll out those tests when they come in January. It’s not disturbing the coverage of the scheme of work.”

Buhari, Sanwo-Olu condole with parents

Notwithstanding the low casualty figures in the heavy-duty truck accident, President Muhammadu Buhari commiserated with parents, relations, and friends who lost their lives in an accident along Isheri Road, Ojodu, in Lagos State.

In a statement by his spokesman and media adviser, Femi Adesina, the president also condoled with the government and people of Lagos State and the authorities of Ojodu Grammar School, over the sad and painful loss “of the promising lives that were cut short in the tragic incident”.

Buhari also prayed that the Almighty God would comfort the grieving parents and relations at this very difficult time, and grant the injured quick recovery.

In his condolence message, Governor Sanwo-Olu also expressed deep sorrow over the students who were crushed to death by the truck driver.

In a message signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Gboyega Akosile, the governor described the demise of the students as sad, unfortunate, and avoidable.

He sympathised with the families of the bereaved students, their relatives, friends, management, and staff of Ojodu Grammar school.

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“I commiserate with the parents, management, staff, and students of Ojodu Grammar School over this unfortunate death of our students, whose lives were cut short by a truck driver yesterday.

“The sad incident has left me devastated since yesterday, because it is terrible to hear about the death of innocent children, especially in an avoidable circumstance like what happened yesterday.

“As a parent, words cannot express how shattered I was when I learnt about the incident. No one’s life, including those vibrant students, who were returning from where they had gone to learn for a better future, deserved to be ended in that manner.

“My deepest sympathies go out to their parents. I pray that God will grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Our prayers are also with the survivors, who are receiving treatment at the hospitals.

The governor also announced the immediate closure of the affected schools, till January, while investigations were ongoing. “The erring driver has also been arrested,” the governor added.

The FRSC/LASTMA puzzle

There were initial reports of ‘lynching’ of road safety and management officials, but these were later punctured by the agencies concerned.

Speaking on the matter on a national television programme. Sector Commander of FRSC, Olusegun Ogungbemide, said only two students died in the incident, and that 14 others were injured.

He said about four of the injured students had been discharged from a hospital at Ojota.

Ogungbemide discountenanced claims that the road safety commission had any bearing, whatsoever, with the vehicle involved in the crash “as no patrol activity by officials of the Commission was going on along that corridor when the incident happened”.

Also, the General Manager of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Bolaji Oreagba, disowned allegations that officials of the agency were involved in the unfortunate truck accident.

Oreagba said: “From the reports we received on the incidence, the driver is believed to have lost control of the vehicle, probably because of mechanical reasons. The police are investigating the matter; the public should await their report.

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“LASTMA does not have a traffic management duty post around the accident scene and all patrol personnel had reported back to base for a daily parade as at the time the accident occurred, leaving only those at their traffic management posts,” Oreagba noted.

What could have happened?

In the absence of concluded investigations, there have been conjectures. In a study on road accidents entitled “Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria: Causes and Preventive Measures” by Agbonkhese, Yisa, et al Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria, several things could have gone wrong: Reckless driving, negligence by road users, the menace of potholes, carelessness by road users, mechanical factors, drink-driving, drug abuse, inadequate manpower/facilities,

The report also highlights how “reported cases of accidents get into the newsrooms of the news media”, among others.