BRT bus did not kill any soldier' - LAGBUS Official Explains What Really Happened

 

The LAGBUS Asset Management Limited, operators of LAGBUS, on Friday, said contrary to claims by soldiers and reports, it was not a BRT bus that killed a soldier. The death of the soldier drew angst from raging soldiers, who burnt BRT buses said to be worth about N100 million, and beat up the bus drivers and witnesses of their rampage.

Explaining the accident, Abiodun Apata, Project Manager, Mutual Model Transports, one of the LAGBUS Franchises, said the company only found a corpse after an eventful night and went to report it to the police. “By 10 p.m. last night, one of our buses broke down at Onipanu; by 11 p.m.,a rescue team with a van went to the scene to tow the bus.

“Unfortunately, area boys started stoning our team which made our men to leave. Meanwhile, the driver put on hazard lights and C- Caution to alert motorists of the breakdown.

“By 5am this morning, before the rescue team got to the scene, a corpse had been deposited in our bus and a motorcycle parked behind it.

“When we saw it, we reported the case to the Pedro Police Station, Somolu, but before we got back to the scene, soldiers had burnt down five BRT buses and one belonging to LAGBUS.

The Head of Operations of BRT, Johnson Oguntade, said BRT vehicles have been withdrawn from the streets to prevent more damage. He said the deceased soldier was not hit by a BRT vehicle “I do not still understand why we are suffering for what we never caused. Why they are burning our buses is not known,” Mr. Oguntade said.

LAGBUS also withdrew its buses from the roads following the burning of the buses by raging soldiers. The buses were attacked by soldiers, who were protesting the death of an army corporal who was allegedly riding a motorbike near the Palmgrove Bus Stop on the Ikorodu Road, Lagos. Mr. Apata said that the attack was unfortunate, adding that the luxury buses were withdrawn to avert more damage.

The alleged accident and withdrawal of the luxury buses left thousands of commuters stranded and crippled commercial activities on Ikorodu road. The developments also resulted in traffic gridlock. Some of the vehicles set ablaze had been towed, while the others are still at the scene as at the time of this report..

Commercial bus operators exploited the situation to increase fares by about 50 per cent. No BRT ticket vendors were seen at the vehicles shelters.

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