Protest as Dangote truck kills four in Lokoja

Gbenga Odogun, Lokoja

Hell was let loose on Wednesday as a cement-laden truck driver lost control and crashed into bystanders killing one female student of the Kogi State Polytechnic and three schoolchildren in Lokoja.

The truck said to belong to the Dangote Cement Company, Obajana, allegedly ran into a tricycle Keke NAPEP at the NATACO junction, on the Abuja-Lokoja highway, which is just few metres to the state polytechnic.

This led to chaos as the students went on the rampage and barricaded the ever-busy Abuja/Okene Road.

They torched the vehicle, destroyed the traffic light at the junction and made bonfire on the road thus leading to a gridlock.

 But the timely intervention of the Police through the detachment of its Special Anti robbery Squad and the presence of some vigilante operatives prevented the crisis to spread to other parts of Lokoja, the state capital.

Eyewitness account told our correspondent that the brake of the Dangote truck heading northwards failed and the driver lost control and rammed into the crowd of bystanders and a taxi cab.

Another eyewitness told our correspondent that the truck also crushed two Keke NAPEPoperators but could not confirm if their occupants were killed.

The Sector Commander, Kogi State Federal Road Safety Corps, Segun Marins, confirmed that the accident occurred due to brake failure.

He explained that the trailer was coming from Obajana when the driver lost control due to brake failure and rammed into the commercial tricycle (Keke NAPEP) and one Nissan taxi at NATACO junction.

Martins confirmed that a female student of the Kogi State Polytechnic and two others were killed on the spot while eight others who sustained varying degrees of injury were evacuated to the state Specialist Hospital, Lokoja for treatment.

While appealing to the Federal Government to construct a flyover bridge at the NATACO junction, to reduce the incidence of accidents around the area, Martins charged drivers to ensure that their vehicles were always in good condition.

Another eyewitness, Mr. Emmanuel Adams, called on the state government to intensify effort at stopping people from trading on the highway, saying the casualties could have been more if the accident had happened on a market day.

At the Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, the head of the emergency unit of the health facility,Mr. Okpanachi Stephen, confirmed that at about 10am on Wednesday, eight people were brought to the hospital from NATACO junction where the accident occurred.

Stephen added that medical personnel had attended to them and they were responding to treatment while the corpses of the deceased had been deposited in the morgue.