Two die as government convoy causes accident in Lagos

Few days after former ASUU president, Festus Iyayi was killed when a car in the convoy of the Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, rammed into his vehicle, two persons were feared killed on Wednesday while nine others sustained several degrees of injuries after a tipper crashed into a walkway, along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. DailyPost gathered that the tipper was said to be avoiding a government convoy that allegedly drove recklessly into the expressway from a side road around 11 am yesterday. According to an eyewitness who craved anonymity, “It was a convoy of about seven vehicles. They were four SUVs and three escort vans. The escorts were riot policemen. “On their way back, while connecting the express, the convoy caused the accident. They drove into the expressway recklessly without stopping to check for oncoming vehicles. “At the time they connected the expressway, a tipper was approaching on top speed. To avoid hitting the convoy, the tipper swerved to the right side of the road. It lost control and rammed into some pedestrians standing by the side of the road.” It was learnt that the convoy later stopped few metres opposite the scene of the accident. The eyewitness said, “The riot policemen came down, they watched the scene for a while, jumped into their vehicles and proceeded towards the Sango area of Ogun State. “We could not challenge the convoy when it stopped because the policemen carried guns and they looked menacing.” It was learnt that a Lagos State Ambulance Service bus later arrived to convey victims to the hospital. Eyewitnesses were unsure if the convoy belonged to either the Lagos or Ogun state governments. One of them said, “The number plates of the vehicles were covered. Some people later came and said the number plates on the vehicles of the police had Ogun State written on them.” A Senior Police officer attached to Oke Odo Police Division, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not the command’s spokesperson, said, “We were informed that a truck coming from Abeokuta, had experienced brake failure while trying to avoid hitting another vehicle. “The truck swerved off the road and in the process, ran into some pedestrians who were standing by the side of the expressway. We are aware that two persons were killed in the accident and that they had been conveyed to a general hospital by sympathisers at the scene. “However, we do not know if the vehicles were in a convoy because we did not meet them at the scene.” Ogun State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Yusup Olayniyonu, said the convoy was not that of the Ogun government. He said, “The governor is at Abeokuta and the Deputy governor is also at Abeokuta. Neither was in Lagos today.” The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, also said no government convoy from the state went to the area