Carnage on our Roads - Daily!!

[bakangizo]

Some days ago, a bus was ambushed by armed robbers along the Lagos-Benin Expressway. The passengers were robbed and raped, those that had nothing to give were asked to lie down on the road face down and the driver, on gun point, was commanded by the robbers to drive the bus over them!!!! I have seen the pictures. Pieces of humans on the road, mashed like potatoes. It is too gory to be posted here, otherwise I'd have posted it. Now, what kind of a country are we living in? what kind of a people are we? What type of a human being would line-up human beings on the road and ordered a vehicle to be run over them? Are we so far gone in this country that our humanity have so evaporated, leaving not an atom of it in our hearts?

Where is the salvation for the Nigerian common man? Where's it gonna come from? The IG was reported by the Daily Trust to have stated that the Nigerian Police cannot stop armed robbery.That the police do not have the type of sophisticated weapons the robbers operate with. In his words, "We do not have enough communication cadgets to track our operations and monitor the roads, vehicles for patrol is not enough, and even where we have the vehicles, what about fuelling because there have been times that those vehicle cannot go out because of lack of fuel". Coming from the IG himself, this is like a surrender, and telling nigerians that everyone is on his own!!

On Tuesday, a trailer belonging to the Dangote Transport, loaded with about 600 bags of cement, veered off the road and crushed 70 people in Lokoja. The usual noises were made by govt officials and life goes on. Till the next one happen. That's Nigeria. The rate at which people die on our raods on a daily basis is alarming. Only an unserious country like nigeria would something like this be happening, and nothing drastic is done to arrest the situation.

We live on. And pray. That's apparently the only thing left for the common man to do.

[gogannaka]

Accidents and insecurity are the leading causes of deaths in Nigeria.
They make our life expectancy to be between 40-45 years.
We seem to have very little regard for the human life.
When you go to our motor parks,the kind of vehicles that convey passengers are in no way safe.
Our roads are bad and the drivers do not know how to drive professionally.
The passengers also do not oppose the use of old vehicles or bad drivers. We only say that God is in control.
'Allah dai ya kiyaye kawai'

The Incident you mentioned about the robbery is not as accurate as it has been reported.
It occured in 2009 and the driver was not commanded to run over the helpless victims.
The people were asked to lie on the ground by the robbers. Another trailer was coming and in order to maneuver round the
barricade set by the robbers, the trailer run over the people.
It is still very unfortunate.

Just yesterday i was discussing the rate of accidents that occur on the roads where families die,usually when attending weddings or different ceremonies. Today i just received a link from the person i had the discussion with. Here's another sad story:
http://news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15665:18-wedding-guests-perish-in-katsina&catid=46:lead-stories&Itemid=140

18 Wedding guests perish in Katsina

Eighteen people were confirmed dead and another thirty five were seriously injured when a busload of guests travelling to a wedding ceremony were involved in an accident with an articulated truck at Modoji village in Katsina State on Saturday evening.

A nurse at the Katsina General Hospital told Daily Trust that eight people were brought dead to the hospital and another ten victims who were admitted with injuries later died in the hospital.

The accident occurred at a newly constructed ring road just outside the state capital. It involved a blue-coloured tipper with registration number XA145KTN and a J5 bus with registration number XA 217DTS. There were some thirty passengers in the J5 bus, which left Rimi Local Government Area on its way to Kaita for a wedding ceremony.

The bus left Rimi town at around 2pm on Saturday for the wedding Fatiha of Malam Hafiz Amadi, an indigene of the area slated for 4pm in the neighbouring Kaita local government area. Amadi himself was in the J5 bus; survived the accident and is recuperating at the Katsina General Hospital.

Malam Bello Isa Modoji, who witnessed the accident, told our reporter that the tipper truck, loaded with sand and with six labourers sitting in it, collided with the bus at around 3.30pm. He blamed the heavy dust that pervaded the scene after some vehicle drove on the newly constructed road site for the accident.

Mallam Bello, who participated in the rescue effort, said six people died on the spot and that all the injured were rushed to Katsina General Hospital. He said it appeared that the drivers of the two vehicles did not see each other's vehicles due to the dust.

Sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Katsina Mr Hammed Ali also attributed the accident to over loading and very high speed, saying the command will nonetheless continue with its safety education for motorists.

When our correspondent visited Rimi town, from where the J5 bus departed, funerals were being held by different families from Saturday night up until Sunday evening, when the 18th accident victim was laid to rest.

Most of the deceased were buried at the Main Rimi graveyard after funeral prayers conducted by various local imams, while many family members were seen receiving condolences at various places in the town.

Deputy Speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly Alhaji Bilyaminu Mohammed Rimi and the local council chairman Nasiru Ala Iyatawa were seen moving from house to house to commiserate with those who lost their loved ones and to sympathise with those that sustained various injuries.

The council chairman described the event as a big tragedy for the entire people of Rimi and said the local council has already undertaken to pay the medical bills of all those that were injured in the crash.

The chairman also told Daily Trust of another marriage tragedy at Ladanawa village of the same Rimi local government, where three people lost their lives when an articulated vehicle with some twenty people on their way to attend another wedding fatiha was also involved in an accident.

However, the FRSC sector command said he had not received any reports about the Ladanawa accident

[amira]

Some days ago, a bus was ambushed by armed robbers along the Lagos-Benin Expressway. The passengers were robbed and raped, those that had nothing to give were asked to lie down on the road face down and the driver, on gun point, was commanded by the robbers to drive the bus over them!!!! I have seen the pictures. Pieces of humans on the road, mashed like potatoes. It is too gory to be posted here, otherwise I'd have posted it. Now, what kind of a country are we living in? what kind of a people are we? What type of a human being would line-up human beings on the road and ordered a vehicle to be run over them? Are we so far gone in this country that our humanity have so evaporated, leaving not an atom of it in our hearts?

When did this happen :o i didnt even hear/read about it, kai amma wannan rashin imani.................i dont even know wat to say
apart from  >:(  >:(  >:(

Accidents and insecurity are the leading causes of deaths in Nigeria.
They make our life expectancy to be between 40-45 years.
We seem to have very little regard for the human life.
When you go to our motor parks,the kind of vehicles that convey passengers are in no way safe.
Our roads are bad and the drivers do not know how to drive professionally.
The passengers also do not oppose the use of old vehicles or bad drivers. We only say that God is in control.
'Allah dai ya kiyaye kawai'

Kai kai kai, wannan alamari!!!
That reminds me of a time that i witnessed a car being driven without its gear thing that knob, rather it was replaced with sum sort of stick ne ma ko some sort of metal, wallahi abin..........i was in shock it was crazy, ive never seen such a thing in my life!!!!

[bakangizo]

amira!! Where did you spring up from?

Haha, you are surprised that a car gear knob was replaced with a stick? Kadan kika gani. Here vehicles are diven without headlights in the night, without rear lights and trafficators. Liquid detergents are used in place of breaks fluids. It is 'normal' here. What a country. Kuma hukumomin suna gani.

goga - I heard about the accident at Katsina. That's the tragedy of our lives now in nigeria. No one seem to care. The rate of death and material loss recorded on a daily basis is beyond imagination. Only an unserious/irresponsible country would sit back and watch this happening and we carry on with business as usual. A state of emergency is long overdue on this issue. Here's a problem deadlier than AIDS and Polio, but we hear more noice about those two.