4th July, 2014
Kazeem Ugbodaga, Tunde Adekeye & Simon Ateba
Irate soldiers went on the rampage on Friday morning at Palmgroove area of Ikorodu Road in Lagos, western Nigeria, and burnt at least eight BRT-LAG buses and vandalised 20 others, after their colleague was allegedly crushed to death on a BRT lane; although a military spokesman on radio claimed that the buses were burnt by street urchins, also known as area boys.
Witnesses said two soldiers were on motorcycle, riding on a BRT lane, when they were hit by a LAGBUS at 9 am, leaving one of them dead and the other slightly injured. Unconfirmed reports later claimed that none of the soldiers died.
The soldier who was said to have died, P.M.NEWS learnt, was on the back seat of the motorcycle when tragedy struck. Small motorcycles are banned from plying both expressways and BRT lanes in Lagos State.
Witnesses said the second soldier then rushed to a nearby barracks and mobilised his colleagues to the accident scene. Immediately the soldiers arrived, they swung into action, taking laws into their hands and vandalising all the Rapid Transit Buses in sight.
They sent passengers and bus drivers scampering for safety as they unleashed their anger on the buses and spread panic around the area. A female soldier was captured on camera smashing the windshield of one of the buses.
The chaos and pandemonium led to traffic snarls with commuter bus drivers turning back or increasing their fares.
It was learnt that there was pandemonium in the area when about 100 soldiers suddenly emerged from the barracks and took over Ikorodu Road and started unleashing terror on passers-by as many took to their heels to avert being killed.
The soldiers blocked the expressway on both sides causing severe traffic gridlock, while some people abandoned their cars and took to their heels.
Policemen could not confront the irate soldiers who were well armed and ready to kill anyone who dared to confront them. Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management, LASTMA, had to remove their uniforms to disguise themselves to avoid being attacked by the angry soldiers.
Drivers and passengers inside BRT fled as the rampaging soldiers attacked them. Passengers of smaller buses had to abandon the buses and run for their lives.
In Fadeyi, signs that this was no ordinary traffic snarl were apparent, as most BRT and LAGBUSES were damaged. Traffic stretched from Obanikoro to Mile 12 and thousands of commuters were stranded, watching helplessly as men on military uniform went on the rampage.
The entire road was deserted, while commuter buses coming from Ojota refused to pick passengers to Yaba area as all they avoided Ikorodu road completely.
The soldiers were said to have beaten up anybody on sight. They beat up drivers and passengers or anyone who moved close to try to take their pictures.
An eyewitness, who craved anonymity, said two civilians were beaten up and a guy who was taking pictures was beaten and his phone smashed on the express road.
Some soldiers were said to have left the expressway and took big sticks from women cooking by the roadside to break the glasses of the buses. One of the soldiers took stones and threw them into the crowd twice.
A LASTMA official, who craved anonymity, told P.M.NEWS a different version of the story, saying that “there was a broken down vehicle on BRT lane inward Anthony. Two soldiers were on a motorcycle. They sped and rammed into the broken down bus and the soldier riding the bike died instantly. The passenger went to mobilise other soldiers and they took to the streets and pounced on people.”
He added that the soldiers vandalised several BRT buses and caused pandemonium on the expressway leading to serious traffic gridlock.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State, Aderemi Ibirogba told P.M.NEWS that it was sad that the soldiers invaded the expressway and unleashed mayhem on Ikorodu Road, leading to traffic gridlock.
According to him, the state government was in touch with the military authorities and had reported the matter and that the military had assured that the situation would soon be put under control.
“I can only advise the public to avoid Ikorodu road for now. The military authorities have assured us that in no time, everything will be under control. The public should bear with us as we did not plan for this.”
An eye witness, who identified herself as Mrs Okwo said she saw five BRT buses being burnt by soldiers and described the situation as pathetic and unpleasant for the soldiers to have taken laws into their hands.
As at the time of filing this report, there were no BRT buses on Ikorodu Road as they have gone to park the vehicles to avoid being burnt by the soldiers.
However, the Commanding officer of the area was said to have come to the scene and was able to placate the soldiers to withdraw from the road and salvaged the situation, but the aftermath of the crisis had already left untold traffic gridlock in the area which would take a while to disappear.