LASTMA Operatives Not Involved in Fatal Truck Crash at Grammar School/Berger- Bolaji Oreagba
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The truck that rammed into students at Grammar School, Ojodu, Lagos
The Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA, has disassociated itself and all of its personnel from the sad road carnage that consumed over a dozen of secondary school students and injured several others, last Tuesday.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Bolaji Oreagba, in a media statement refuted the information in the rumour mill, especially in the social media that LASTMA operatives and other road safety agencies were after the driver of the truck when it lost control and rammed into the pupils while returning home from school.
Oreagba said the story was carelessly cooked up as LASTMA had no any “traffic management duty post around the accident scene”.
He added that at the time the incident happened, “all patrol personnel had reported back to base for daily parade as at the time the accident occurred leaving only those at their traffic management posts”, Oreagba noted.
In the statement signed by Filade Olumide, Assistant Director, Public Affairs, he wondered how the numerous road safety agencies personnel cited in the unconfirmed report would have resolved to chase an erring driver and “a truck that could be apprehended at a later date, that is even if it had committed any traffic infraction”.
The statement averred that trained professionals that LASTMA had groomed in the use of information communication and technology, ICT, would not resort to a crude means with the very high likelihood of endangering road safety, to enforce road traffic law.
Oreagba sympathized with the families of the students that lost their lives and prayed for the quick recovery of the injured being treated in the hospital.
LASTMA helmsman also said that every Lagosian have the responsibility of making the roads safer for everyone, by strictly adhering to all traffic rules and regulations that have been put in place
In the same vein, the Lagos sector of the FRSC had also said its officers were not present at the scene when the accident occurred.
The statement said, “the men of FRSC were called upon by passerby to help intervene after the crash had happened”.
However, the Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Adekunle Ajisebutu, Chief Superintendent of Police, had confirmed in a statement that the “erring driver is in police custody.”
Mr Ajisebutu said about eight students were injured in the incident and were taken to the hospital for treatment.
He said after the arrest of the truck driver, students attacked the Ojodu Police Station in an attempt to carry out jungle justice on the arrested suspect.
“In the process, the rampaging students destroyed some vehicles parked at the Police Station. The violent students and hoodlums who joined them were dispersed professionally.
“However, normalcy has been restored. Investigation into the fatal motor/pedestrians accident has since commenced,” the police said.
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