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•Stakeholders decry hoodlums’ activities on port access roads
By Steve Agbota, [email protected] 08033302331
As frequent accidents involving containerised trucks continue to rise, deaths caused by accidents has risen to about 92 lives, while 398 people suffered injuries in Lagos state alone in 2022.
According to data by the Lagos State Command of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) seen by Daily Sun, between January and December last year, a total of 92 people died with 398 people involved in accidents involving 261 trucks.
The data further revealed that a total of 74 male adults, eight female adults and 10 infants died as a result of different truck accidents in the preceding year.
However, the data revealed that in March last year alone, 43 trucks were involved in different degrees of accidents that claimed 19 lives, with 51 people sustaining different degrees of injuries and a total of 70 casualties recorded.
Giving the further breakdown of the statistics showed that 219 male adults, 57 female adults and 30 children, sustained various degrees of injury within the year under review. The FRSC Lagos command also disclosed that, it recorded a total of 61 ‘fatal’ accidents, 85 ‘serious’ accidents and 115 ‘minor’ accidents in 2022.
Meanwhile, stakeholders have argued that the recorded fatalities may be far more than what was recorded, as many of recorded injuries later resulted in deaths.
Between January and February 2023, several lives have been lost to containers accidents within Lagos roads.
For instance, a truck carrying 20ft container fell off a truck onto a passenger bus at Ojuelegba, Lagos and nine people were crushed to death. Barely 48 hours the incident happened, another truck carrying a container lost brake and killed two people and four others were injured at Ikotun, Lagos state. The injured were two pregnant women and two children. Just last week, one person was confirmed dead after a fully loaded 40ft containerised truck experienced brake failure and crushed vehicles on Kara Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Stakeholders who spoke with Daily Sun said there is need to ban hoodlums from the port access roads as they usually dragging steering with truck drivers and forcefully collecting money from them. The activities of these hoodlums mostly result to accidents while dragging steering with truck drivers along the port access roads.
At a sensitisation campaign with Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and FRSC to forestall frequent falling of containers on the roads, Amalgamation of Container Truck Owners Association of Nigeria (ACTOAN) said findings from the thorough investigation by the group identified various factors largely responsible for safety hazards causing the fall of container-laden trucks.
The Coordinator of ACTOAN, Ridwan Bello, said lapses, compromise and poor enforcement of the minimum safety standard by ports safety officials, security/safety/traffic enforcement agencies on the roads, activities of illegal toll collecting hoodlums on highways/roads and non-compliance of truckers are factor responsible for truck accidents.
He said some truck owners dodge the minimum safety standard as well as have poor attitude towards regular maintenance of their trucks, saying employment of drivers without adequate training and valid driver’s licence, alcohol and drug intake by some truck drivers before embarking on journey are some of the issues causing container accidents.
Bello noted that safety, security/traffic enforcement officers prioritise extortion of truckers over aggressive implementation of minimum safety standard on the roads.
He said they collect bribe and allow trucks without container twistlocks, headlight, side mirrors, neat tail body, weak break, goodspring, good axle, among others to access the port to carry load and jeopardise the lives of people on the roads.
Bello said they also sabotage the safety standard and compliance of truckers through damage of truck windscreen, breaking side mirrors, truck cap, stabbing truck tyres with daggers, and beating drivers for refusing to pay money at checkpoints instead of enforcing minimum safety standard.
He noted that investigation also revealed that lawless hoodlums in their effort to collect money from drivers, remove break hose of moving trucks leading to break failure and crashing of trucks with passengers and vehicles.
Bello further disclosed that the ports and terminals safety officers carelessly allow trucks with incomplete container hooks, worn out tyres, bad tail body headlights, among others to access, load and leave the ports and terminals.
He said from the analysis, without sentiment and bias, it is crystal clear that government, port authority, truckers, hoodlums, security/traffic/safety enforcement agencies and terminals are all culpable in the incessant falling of containers on roads.
The group, however, urged Lagos State government to outlaw, ban, and criminalise activities of roads/highways hoodlums causing truck accident and endangering the lives and property of road users across the state.
The group also urged relevant stakeholder to be more proactive in the enforcement of minimum safety standard on errant truckers to prevent avoidable falling of containers.The group called for distancing bus stops from highways/bridge foot to prevent collision of trucks with pedestrian and motorists in the event of trucks losing control. The group also called for outright ban of commercial bus operators from sudden stop and picking up of passengers at unauthorised spots on the roads. Bello said this causes sudden matching of break by truck drivers, which could trigger waving and falling of containers or cause the truck to collide with buses and other vehicles on the highways.
Speaking with Daily Sun on the menace and the way forward, the National President of COMTUA, Mr. Adeyinka Aroyewun said the conditions of the road responsible for these most of the containers accidents or being fell of from the trucks.
According to him, the roads are bad, not motor worthy, people are not obeying traffic rules to the extent that hoodlums on the road drag steering with the drivers.
“Vehicles are parked, loading passengers on unauthorized places, this is usually cause an accident. We will blame the government for this for not enforcing traffic rules and not ensuring the roads are in good condition,” he said.
Speaking with Daily Sun, the National President of COMTUA, Mr. Adeyinka Aroyewun said the conditions of the road responsible for these most of the container accidents or being fell of from the trucks.
According to him, the roads are bad, not motor worthy, people are not obeying traffic rules to the extent that hoodlums on the road drag steering with the drivers.
“Vehicles are parked, loading passengers on unauthorized places, this is usually cause an accident. We will blame the government for this for not enforcing traffic rules and not ensuring the roads are in good condition,” he said.
For his part the President General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN); Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, noted that many of the trucks operating in the country are old and rickety, while urging federal and state governments to enforce sanctions and ensure proper monitoring so as to reduce the number of truck accidents on the roads.
“Many of the trucks are old and rickety and there is a need for the government to enforce sanction and monitoring, we will support the trucking associations because these trucks constitute a menace on our roads” he said.
