Four dead, five hurt in Lagos and Ogun road accidents

At least four people died and five others were injured in separate road accidents in Ogun and Lagos states on Wednesday.

The Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority reported that the crashes were due to speeding and driving against traffic.

In Ogun State, three people died and three others were hurt in a head-on crash between a Mercedes-Benz truck and a crane on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway, close to Babcock University Junction in Ikenne.

Babatunde Akinbiyi, the spokesperson for TRACE, said the accident happened around 5 am. He noted that a white Mercedes-Benz truck with the registration number LG 59 BLF collided with a yellow crane that had no registration number.

Eyewitnesses said the crane driver was speeding and driving against traffic, which led to the deadly crash. Akinbiyi said, “According to eyewitness accounts, the crane truck drove against traffic, coupled with excessive speed, which led to a head-on collision with the Benz truck.”

He added that six people were involved in the accident, including three men and three women. Three male victims were taken to Babcock University Teaching Hospital after suffering injuries, while three others, a man and two women, lost their lives.

“The injured victims have been rescued to Babcock Hospital, while the presumed dead have been taken to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital morgue in Sagamu by the police,” he said.

Akinbiyi mentioned that traffic was redirected from Delabo Junction to the second lane to lessen congestion. Efforts were ongoing to remove the damaged vehicles from the road.

He said TRACE, the Federal Road Safety Corps, and the police expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased and urged drivers to avoid route violations due to their serious consequences.

In a different incident in Lagos, one person died and two others were injured in a crash involving multiple vehicles along New Road by Coastal Road, heading towards Jakande.

Adebayo Taofiq, the LASTMA spokesperson, said preliminary investigations showed that the crash included a Mack flat-bed trailer, a Toyota mini truck, and two motorcycles. He said the trailer driver lost control while speeding and crashed into the moving Toyota mini truck, causing it to overturn before hitting one of the motorcycles.

Taofiq said LASTMA officials and other emergency responders helped the injured victims and took them to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, called the accident a needless tragedy. He repeated the agency’s call for drivers to follow speed limits. “Drivers of articulated vehicles and all categories of road users must exhibit greater discipline, exercise heightened vigilance behind the wheel and operate strictly within the legally prescribed speed limits,” Bakare-Oki said.

He also said reckless driving is a major cause of preventable road traffic deaths and urged drivers to adopt safe driving habits and follow traffic rules.