5 killed, 9 injured in auto crash on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun State Command, yesterday confirmed the accident along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway claimed five lives while nine others were injured.

Mr Clement Oladele, the FRSC Sector Commander in the state, said in Ota, Ogun State that the accident occurred at 9.10pm around Danco Petrol Station, near Sagamu, on Saturday.

Oladele blamed the lone accident, which involved a white Toyota Hiace bus, with registration number LSR 642XB, on speed violation.

He said that 14 persons, 10 males and four females, were involved in the crash.

“The bodies of the victims have been deposited at the morgue of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, while the survivors are also receiving treatment at the same hospital,” he said.

He said the obstruction as a result of the accident had been cleared to ease free flow of traffic on the highway.

The sector commander commiserated with the victims’ families and enjoined members of the public, whose relations were involved in the ill-fated crash, to contact the FRSC Command or the OOUTH, Sagamu, for any information.

Oladele also reiterated the need for motorists to drive cautiously within the recommended speed of 50 kilometres per hour at construction sites.

He advised passengers to always caution drivers who are in the habit of driving recklessly, and call the FRSC’s toll free number 122, to report any driver who refused to take caution.

Meanwhile, after four months, the Federal Government yesterday opened the Kara Bridge section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to traffic, after completing repair works on a 600-metre stretch.

The section between Kara Bridge and Isheri Junction inbound Lagos was partially closed on September 2, for reconstruction, resulting in traffic diversion.

When the site was visited, traffic regulatory agencies, law enforcement agencies and official of the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing officials were supervising removal of barricades by construction workers.

Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) personnel closed the Kara end of the bridge, using patrol vehicles to lead vehicles into the newly-constructed lane.

The FRSC in a slow motorcade, took off from the Kara end of the bridge at exactly 10.30am, leading the vehicles on the Lagos-bound carriageway to merge onto the Lagos traffic at the Isheri intersection on the highway.

An FRSC Assistant Corps Commander, Taofik Iyanda, expressed satisfaction at the road repair, and thanked the Federal Government and its  agencies that effected  the repair.

Iyanda appealed to road users to exercise caution while driving on the highway.

He said: “Motorists should not see the road as a race course. They should exercise patience on the little segment that has been completed and opened for use.

“They should not exceed the specified speed limit.

“The road is still under construction and a lot of things will have to be put in place, so they have to be very careful and exercise patience anytime they are plying the road.”

He told journalists that collaboration of traffic management agencies and law enforcement agencies helped to minimise road accidents and deaths during the repair period.

Some motorists and road users expressed satisfaction and appealed to the Federal Government to complete construction to ease traffic on the highway.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Adedamola Kuti, had in an interview appealed to road users to observe speed limits to avert crashes.

Kuti, while inspecting the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Saturday evening, said that the site cleaning was being completed to prepare for opening of the road to traffic.

He said: “We have already completed the work up to the asphalt level on this inbound Lagos lane.

“We have completed this lane of 600 metres. We were slowed down by that huge October rain.

“We will not be able to complete the outbound Lagos side; so, rather than start work there, we decided to open both lanes for use so that it will ease traffic during Christmas.”

Kuti added that repairs on the Ibadan-bound carriageway would continue in January.