Nine people reportedly lost their lives recently as a 20-foot-laden container fell on a commercial bus in the Ojuelegba area of Lagos State, southwest Nigeria.
Barely 24 hours after this incident, a 40-foot container-laden truck reportedly fell on the road along the Dopemu area of the state.
Several deaths have been recorded in the past in Lagos State as a result of containers falling off trucks. This is due to poor haulage practices on the part of the owners of the containers, reckless driving on the part of the drivers and, most notably, the failure of the state government to enforce existing laws.
Container-related deaths
In June 2013, a loaded 40-foot container fell on a meat van, crushing a passer-by and injuring several others on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway. In the same month, a man was crushed to death by a container at Ikeja-Along Bus Stop.
In January 2015, a woman and her son were killed when an unlatched container fell on them at Ketu Bus Stop, where they waited to board a vehicle to Mile 12.
Another container, this time in April 2015, crushed four persons close to the popular Agric Bus Stop on Ikorodu road in the state.
Another container incident was reported in June 2018, when a heavy-duty truck fell off while it attempted to climb a flyover.
The container, which landed on cars and empty commercial buses, took at least three lives and left four others seriously injured.
In 2020, two young Nigerians – Chidinma Ajoku and Chima Nnaekpe – who worked with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), were crushed to death when a container from a moving truck fell on their bus.
Another incident was reported of Monica Onokah whose legs were trapped when a trailer fell on the road. When efforts to lift the container proved abortive, her rescuers had to hack her legs off with a machete in order to free her. She bled to death before she reached a hospital.
In spite of all these horrendous occurrences, no concrete measures have been taken by the state government to forestall future tragedies.
Failure to enforce safety rules
The failure of government at all levels to enforce existing laws, rules or policies has been a major problem for the Nigerian state.
The government of Lagos State, in January 2021, banned trucks and trailers from plying roads in the state during day time.
Unfortunately, there has not been any major effort to ensure strict enforcement and compliance with the directive.
Our calls to action
We call on the Lagos government to take up the matter of falling container-laden trucks seriously and ensure strict enforcement of its law.
The Lagos State Safety Commission, which is responsible for the coordination of all government matters relating to the safety of lives and property of Lagosians, should execute its duty in the area of compliance and enforcement because the safety of Lagosians is at stake here.
Also, we call on the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation and its equivalents in all the states of the federation, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to ensure that all the laws governing the operations of trucks and related vehicles must be enforced with more vigour and diligence.
There is also the need for an attitudinal change among truck drivers across the country. We call on them to apply all road safety guidelines at all times.
Photo source: Channels TV
