Tragedies struck on Wednesday in parts of the country as families were thrown into mourning over the deaths of their loved ones.
In the various tragic incidents, several persons met untimely deaths majorly through road accidents.
A drunk truck driver reportedly crashed into a bus on Wednesday around the Castinjo/Ola Bus Stop on the Ota-Idiroko Expressway in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, killing the bus driver and his motor boy instantly.
The driver, according to eyewitnesses, was driving at high speed when he lost control and rammed into the bus coming in the opposite direction, killing the bus driver and his assistant on the spot.
The spokesperson for the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi, in a statement sent to journalists, disclosed that the incident happened at about 6.48am on Wednesday.
He said, “A fatal accident occurred this morning along the Ota-Idiroko traffic corridor. Four male adults were involved with two presumed dead. The vehicles involved are an unregistered MAN truck and a red bus with registration number LND 224 GF.
“The driver of the bus and the motor boy died on the spot due to the impact of the collision while the drunk driver of the truck and its motor boy ran away.”
Akinbiyi added that the bodies of the deceased victims were deposited at the Ifo General Hospital while the vehicles involved had been evacuated to the nearest police station.
Three killed in Lagos-Ibadan crash
Three persons lost their lives while two others sustained varying degrees of injuries on Wednesday in a single-vehicle crash around Fidiwo Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The crash, which occurred at about 1.07pm, involved a green Toyota jeep with registration number BDG213BJ, carrying five passengers.
The accident was attributed to a tyre burst, which made the car lose control and crash under the bridge.
The spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State Sector Command, Florence Okpe, confirmed this in a telephone conversation with our correspondent.
She said, “A total of five people were involved, consisting of four men and one woman, and two got injured, while the remaining three were killed in the lone crash.”
Detailing the circumstances surrounding the accident, Okpe, in a statement obtained by our correspondent, said, “The crash involved one vehicle with registration number BDG213BJ, a Toyota Jeep, green colour.
“A total of five persons were involved (four male adults and one female adult) and two got injured while the remaining three were killed from the lone crash (two male adults and one female adult).
“The cause of the lone crash was Tyre burst speed which led to loss of control and the vehicle crash under the bridge.
“The injured victims were taken to Victory Hospital Ogere while the corpses were deposited at FOS Morgue, Ipara Remo.”
Lagos oba dies after Sallah prayer
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has mourned the passing of the paramount ruler of Isolo Kingdom, Oba Kabiru Alani Adelaja Agbabiaka, Adeola Olushi III.
The governor also commiserated with the people of Isolo and the family of the Osolo of Isolo Kingdom, Oba Agbabiaka Saliu, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 64 at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital shortly after observing the Eid prayers.
Sanwo-Olu, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, described the passage of the Osolo of Isolo Kingdom, as a great loss to the traditional institution and Lagos State as a whole.
The governor said, “On behalf of the government and people of Lagos, I commiserate with the people of Isolo, the deceased family, friends, and associates on the transition of the paramount ruler of Isolo Kingdom, Oba Kabiru Alani Adelaja Agbabiaka, Adeola Olushi III.
“The death of Oba Agbabiaka is a great loss to the people of Isolo, and he will be greatly missed. He made lots of positive impacts during his lifetime, contributing meaningfully to the growth and development of his community as a traditional ruler.
“Oba Agbabiaka, as a first-class traditional ruler, left a lasting legacy that the people of Isolo Kingdom will continue to cherish. I pray that Almighty God be pleased with the soul of the late monarch and grant the royal family and the people of Isolo and Lagos State the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
The governor urged the family, friends, and associates of the deceased, as well as the entire people of Isolo, whose interests the late monarch represented and worked tirelessly for during his lifetime, to work towards immortalising him.
Road accident claims two in Anambra
Two yet-to-be-identified individuals have died while one person was injured in a road crash that occurred on the Idemili-Oraifite road near Oba junction in the Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State.
It was reported that the accident took place at about 7.30 am on Wednesday and involved two trucks colliding with each other.
An eyewitness in the area stated that the driver of one of the vehicles, coming from the Upper Iweka area and travelling at high speed, lost control of the vehicle upon reaching a bad spot at the Oba junction.
He explained, “While the driver was attempting to navigate through some potholes on the road, he lost control and collided with the oncoming vehicle. One of the drivers was trapped.”
The Staff Officer, Public Education of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Anambra State, C.A. Iyiegbuniwe, confirmed the accident in a statement on Wednesday.
Iyiegbuniwe said, “At about 07:30 hrs, the incident involved two white and blue trucks without registration numbers attached to their bodies. The two trucks collided, resulting in two male adults being killed, while one was taken to a morgue in Orafite, and the other person was trapped under the truck.
“Efforts were made before the trapped individual was removed with an extricating machine. The name of the driver of the white Ford truck is Mr Azan Alire, while the blue truck belongs to NUPENG and the name of the driver is not known.”
One dies in Lagos fire accident
Some residents of the Lagos Island area of Lagos State have blamed the escalation of the fire that rocked the Dosumu Market area on Tuesday on the absence of a fire station around the market.
The inferno, which also left one dead, with nine others sustaining burn injuries and several goods damaged, raged overnight until Wednesday.
No fewer than 14 buildings were gutted by the fire which took place on Tuesday and lasted till Wednesday morning.
The Lagos Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, Ibrahim Farinloye, had, in a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Tuesday, said four buildings out of the 14 collapsed.
On Wednesday, the state fire service confirmed the death of a yet-to-be-identified victim.
Farinloye, who also blamed the cause of the fire on the careless refuelling of a generator in the penthouse of one of the buildings, decried the difficulty faced by emergency responders in accessing some of the affected areas.
The residents, while speaking with The PUNCH on Wednesday, urged the state government to take decisive steps by investigating the circumstances leading to the recurring fire incidents in the Lagos Island market.
Being the fifth fire incident recorded in the state central market in 2024, residents lamented the absence of fire service stations in the market.
A resident, who identified as Taofeek, told PUNCH Metro, “We have been seeing fire destroying goods and property in this market in the past year. It is high time the government provided fire service stations at different points in the market. These are standard facilities that a market of this nature should not lack and one of the reasons why the incident keeps reoccurring.”
While citing issues relating to the planning of the structures, another resident, Feyisayo Benson, said, “The government needs to look into the structures and planning of the market. Their closeness is the main reason why the fire spreads quickly. Yesterday’s fire would not have gotten to that level but because of the closeness of the buildings.”
Another resident, who gave his name simply as David, said bad roads and overcrowding often hinder access to emergency responders during fire incidents in the market.
David said, “Some roads leading to the markets are bad, the government should fix them. One of the Fire Service trucks got stuck in a flooded gully at Ojo Giwa and Oroyinyin Street yesterday while trying to access the scene of the fire. The overcrowding is also another factor.”
Confirming the death of one person, the Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, in a statement on Wednesday, identified the victim as the person who was refuelling a generator in a penthouse of one of the buildings before it ignited the fire.
She said, “Regrettably, the incident claimed the life of the person who was refuelling the working generator that ignited the fire. Eight individuals suffered from carbon monoxide inhalation, and one sustained a fracture, all were treated and discharged on the scene by the Emergency Management Service.”
Similarly, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, in a statement by its Permanent Secretary, Damilola Oke-Osanyitolu, on Wednesday, noted that the number of affected buildings had increased to 15 while six of the buildings had collapsed.
Two drown in Lagos Lagoon
Two passengers reportedly fell into the Lagoon on Wednesday after a commercial bus crashed on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State.
The PUNCH learnt that other occupants of the vehicle sustained varying degrees of injuries from the accident.
The Lagos Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, in a statement, noted that the driver of the 18-seater bus, who was speeding, swerved off the road and collided with the bridge rails.
He stated that the impact of the crash forcefully pushed the two passengers off the bus into the Lagoon, adding that the victims, adult male and female, were being searched for by the Marine Police.
“Personnel of the Marine Police were searching for the two passengers, a male and female, who fell off the vehicle. The injured have been evacuated to a nearby hospital,” Farinloye added.
The spokesperson for the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Adebayo Taofiq, while also confirming the incident in a statement, disclosed that 18 seriously injured passengers were rescued by officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority from Zone 1, Lagos Island.
He added that the driver of the vehicle fled the scene of the accident.
“Policemen from Adeniji Adele Police Station provided security backup during the rescue of 18 seriously injured passengers by LASTMA officials.
“LASTMA Ojo-Oniyun Olamide (One Alpha, Zone 1 Lagos Island) who led the recovery operations confirmed that his team immediately evacuated the LT commercial bus off the road for unhindered vehicular movement towards the Adeniji Adele area of Lagos Island,” Taofiq stated.
He also confirmed that the Marine rescue team was inside the Lagoon on a search and rescue mission.
When contacted late Wednesday, NEMA boss, Farinloye, told PUNCH Metro that search and rescue efforts were still underway.
