20 escape death on Gbagada Expressway

It was a narrow escape for commuters, who plied the Gbagada-Oshodi Expressway yesterday as their 18-seater bus collided with a Mercedes Benz ML 350. There was, however, no casualty, though some of the passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries.

Driver of the Mercedes Benz car, who simply identified himself as Akeem, told The Guardian that the bus driver in an attempt to avoid hitting some pedestrians crossing the expressway collided with another vehicle.

“The vehicle narrowly escaped and immediately sped off the scene, leaving the bus to spin in the air for some moment before it crashed on my car. I tried to maneuver my car out of the way, but it was too late.”

According to an eyewitness, Lukman Odekoya, “a man who wanted to cross the road caused the accident. He wasn’t careful enough to check oncoming vehicles. His action led to the accident as the bus driver was forced to swerve in the bid to avoid crushing the man. The vehicle coming from behind had no choice than to ram into the bus.

“The man, who caused the accident was badly injured, his spinal cord and one of his leg was affected. God took control. The bus somersaulted several times and remained upside down until passersby rushed to help the injured passengers and turned the bus back .”

He appealed to the state government to construct a pedestrian bridge around the Gbagada area to avoid similar accidents like this.

One of the injured passengers, Mrs. Rebecca Akinbowale, said she was coming back with the goods she had bought when it happened. “It all happened suddenly. We just saw the car hit our bus from behind and our bus lost control. In an attempt to help us from the bus my bag was stolen containing N15,000 and my mobile phone. I am helpless but I thank God I am alive.”

An official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Ola Felix, said immediately the accident happened, they mobilised to the scene, which was why there was no casualty recorded. Ambulances were immediately brought to convey the badly injured passengers to the hospital and others were given on-the-spot treatment at the scene.”