Trailer crushes dispatch rider to death

Tragedy struck yesterday morning, at Toyota bus-stop, on Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, when a trailer crushed to death a dispatch rider attached to Fedex Courier, Jimi Victor. Distressed colleagues who immediately rushed to the scene said the deceased left the office some few minutes before the tragedy that befell him.

According to an eyewitness, the incident, which occurred around 10am, took place when the dispatch rider, a part-time student of Yaba College of Technology, was trying to overtake the trailer, with the registration number Lagos KTU-599XJ, during the early morning downpour. He was crushed when his tyre burst suddenly and he slipped.

The development led to a serious traffic jam on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway. And it took some hours after the accident before policemen arrived the scene to remove the mangled body of the motorcyclist.

The incident reechoed the strident calls by Lagosians for government to enforce the restriction of movement on trucks and articulated vehicles during the day. “The state government was right in its decision to ban trailers on the road during daytime, but government is not firm enough to enforce its decision. Until when that happens, we will continue to have this kind of tragedy.

Eyewitnesses told The Guardian that the trailer could not immediately apply the brakes, as he dragged the deceased for more than a kilometre before the trailer could eventually stop. The driver and his conductor immediately took to their heels to escape the lynching of the traders at the Ladipo spare parts market.

However, traders from the market have called on the Lagos State government to construct a pedestrian bridge at Toyota bus stop. They claim to have lost over 10 traders this year alone to hit-and-run drivers.

“We have raised our concerns over the continued loss of lives in Toyota bus stop but the government turned a deaf ear to our plight. Crossing this road is dangerous. We want the state government to help stop this waste of human lives occurring every month.”