The terrifying container crash in Lagos

HUMAN factors account for the high scale of tragedies on Nigerian highways. The awful maintenance culture by motorists and other road users, general impunity on the road, disdain for traffic rules and regulations and corrupt tendencies among government officials are a few of the factors that lead to avoidable fatalities on the highways. Records show that in the last few years, many citizens have lost their lives due to containers falling  from trucks in transit. While a few sometimes manage to escape from the tragedies with serious injuries, most of the victims of such accidents are crushed and maimed for life.

The latest horrendous scene was recorded on the Lagos-Badagry highway on Monday, March 15, as a goods-ladden container on a truck crushed three vehicles and a tricycle. Though no life was lost in the incident, the scene was terrifying due to the awesome weight of the container as evident in the compressed vehicles. Sadly, even with the graphic reportage of the near tragedy, it is doubtful there has been any consequence for the criminal negligence that was apparently responsible for the incident. Instead, it has been business as usual. It certainly appears that little or no value is currently placed on human life in the country. The rickety trucks carrying the unlatched containers are largely not roadworthy. Worse still, they are merely seated on flatbeds with no fittings to prevent them from sliding off in the event that the trucks run into portholes.

Virtually all the articulated vehicles bearing containers from the ports and plying intra and inter-state routes are hardly latched, thereby endangering the lives of innocent citizens. Officials, including officers and men of the agencies of government with the statutory duty to guarantee road safety, turn a blind eye to motorists that undermine rules and regulations. Embarrassing scenes where those officials and errant road users engage in disgraceful and unholy alliances and negotiations have become the rule rather than the exception.

The incidence of container accidents remains worrisome. For example, on June 7, 2013, a man was killed by an unlatched  container at Ikeja-Along bus-stop, Lagos, while a loaded 40-foot container fell on a meat van, crushing a passer-by and injuring several others on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. In January 2015, a middle-aged woman simply identified as Anthonia and her son, Chibuzor, were crushed  by an unlatched container that fell on them at Ketu bus-stop, as they waited to board a vehicle to Mile 12, Lagos. On April 5 of the same year, a container crushed four persons at Agric bus-stop, Ikorodu, Lagos. But more tragedies were still on the way. On June 27, 2015, Olabisi Onabanjo University reportedly lost 14 students at Ilisan Remo, Ogun State, when a container fell on a bus conveying them to Lagos.

Again, on September 2, 2015 at the Ojuelegba area of Lagos, a bureau de change operator and his friends were killed when a 40-foot container that fell off the bridge landed on their Sports Utility Vehicle. Then on September 8, 2015, a middle-aged man was crushed by a container-laden truck at top speed as he tried to cross Okoduwa Street in Kirikiri Industrial Layout. In January 2017, the picture of a hapless young lady whose legs were trapped under a container at Durbar bus stop along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway trended on social media. She was reported to have been rescued by a passer-by who had to chop off her legs from the knees so that she could be taken to hospital. But she reportedly bled to death. On July 8, 2017, five people died when a truck carrying a 40-foot container fell on a commercial bus in the Ojota area of Lagos at about 4:20am.

Besides, on July 26, 2020, a truck loaded with a 20-foot container fell on a commercial bus discharging passengers at Ilasamaja beneath the pedestrian bridge, along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, killing two persons and injuring others. And on February 3 this year, a container-bearing truck fell on a private car without any occupant at the time, while descending the Anthony Oke loop on Ikorodu Road, Lagos. Given this scary record, it is imperative for the law enforcement agencies to wake up to their responsibilities. They must restrategise on the battle against erring truck drivers and their owners. There is a need to effectively enforce safety regulations on container-carrying trucks, especially in Lagos, the nation’s commercial hub, by implementing the state’s Road Traffic Law 2012 that restricts articulated vehicles from plying the metropolis between the hours of 6am and 9pm. They should ensure proper monitoring of the activities of drivers of articulated vehicles, with any act of criminal negligence and dereliction of duty dealt with accordingly.

All the relevant authorities, particularly the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), should guarantee the physical conditions of container-laden trucks before their departure from the ports, while agencies like the FRSC, Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) should ensure their road worthiness. The fact that some errant truck drivers often unlatch their containers after leaving the ports for selfish reasons is grave and unacceptable. The life of every citizen of the country is precious and cannot be compromised. In this regard, the reintroduction of weigh bridges and deployment of appropriate technology are necessary to checkmate the merchants of death on the country’s roads.

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