Lagos State Government on Monday commiserates with the families who lost their loved ones in the Ojuelegba truck accident on Sunday, January 29, 2023. In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State, Gbenga Omotoso, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, after receiving an interim report of the incident, directed the police to speed up their investigation of the matter.
He said “the Governor has given the following directives, that the driver of the truck and the owner, who are in police custody, must be prosecuted; Ministry of Transportation and Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) should meet urgently to find a lasting solution to the menace of falling trucks; and
All the laws governing the operations of trucks and related vehicles must be enforced with more vigour and diligence.
“The incident of 29th January, 2023 is one too many and it shows the irresponsibility of owners and drivers of such articulated vehicles who under the law should care for other road users.” Omotoso said Lagos State Government has zero tolerance for large containers that fall off trucks and injure or kill citizens, who are going about their lawful businesses. The driver (Sodiq Okanlawon) and owner (Wasiu Lekan) of a container which killed three (3) people on the 26th July, 2020 on Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, Ilasamaja were prosecuted and convicted on the 28th February, 2022 and sentenced to life imprisonment by Hon. Justice Okikiolu Ighile.
Omotoso said “ The State Government will, in a similar manner, ensure that the driver and the owner of the truck involved in the January 29th incident are put on trial for the needless death of our dear citizens. This, we hope, will send a strong message to all those who have no regard for other people’s lives that Lagos will not condone their recklessness. They must be stopped, with the strong backing of our laws, because their actions offend our avowed commitment to safety and decency.”
source- westernpost
