The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has confirmed the death of a Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) operative in a road traffic incident along Meran Road, inward Iyana Ekoro axis, Lagos.
In a statement released on Saturday via the agency’s official X account by the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq, LASTMA said the female operative ‘was conscientiously engaged in her lawful environmental sanitation duties’ when she was struck by a blue Ford commercial bus (BDG 495 YH) that was ‘recklessly and unlawfully reversing on the expressway’.
‘The vehicle forcefully rammed into the unsuspecting LAWMA sweeper who was carrying out routine roadside cleaning. The severe impact, particularly to the head region, proved instantly fatal’, the statement said.
LASTMA officers on active traffic surveillance duties ‘swiftly mobilised to the scene upon receipt of the distress report’, the statement added:
‘The driver had absconded from the crash site in a desperate attempt to evade accountability. Officers immediately pursued the fleeing vehicle, successfully apprehended the driver and escorted him and his vehicle back to the scene of the incident’.
The apprehended driver and the vehicle ‘were subsequently handed over to security men from the Meiran Police Division for comprehensive investigation and prosecution in accordance with extant laws’, the agency said, noting that the timely intervention also ‘averted a potential breach of public peace, as the suspect was on the verge of being subjected to mob action by enraged members of the public’.
The remains of the deceased were ‘respectfully evacuated from the scene by LAWMA officials using an official LAWMA vehicle for further necessary procedures’, LASTMA added.
Expressing deep anguish over the incident, LASTMA General Manager Olalekan Bakare-Oki described the loss as ‘both distressing and preventable’, extending ‘heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, colleagues and loved ones of the fallen LAWMA operative. We fervently pray that Almighty God grants them fortitude and divine strength required to endure the irreplaceable loss’.
Bakare-Oki condemned the act of reversing on an expressway, stressing it ‘constitutes a serious traffic offence and a blatant contravention of the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018’, and warned motorists against ‘reckless, unlawful driving practices which continually result in needless fatalities and public sorrow’.
He also commended the ‘vigilance, courage and swift response of LASTMA Officers involved in the incident, particularly for ensuring the suspect’s apprehension and preventing his escape from justice’.
It can be recalled that a similar incident occurred a few days ago, in which a truck collided with four other vehicles, leaving two dead and three others critically injured. Bakare-Oki said the driver of the Silo Mixer Truck ‘absconded from the scene upon realising the gravity of the incident’.
