A commercial motorcyclist and his passenger were killed on Sunday after an articulated truck rammed into them along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
The General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, confirmed the incident in a statement issued by the agency’s Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment, Mr. Taofig Adebayo.
Bakare-Oki described the accident, which occurred at the Iyana-Iba Flyover near Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, as tragic and unfortunate.
According to him, preliminary investigations revealed that the fully-loaded truck was speeding from the Volkswagen area toward Badagry when it knocked down a pedestrian and attempted to flee the scene without stopping.
He explained that a motorcyclist, accompanied by another individual, chased after the fleeing driver in an attempt to stop him. However, the truck driver allegedly rammed into the motorcycle during the pursuit, killing the rider and his passenger instantly, while the third person escaped unhurt.
Bakare-Oki added that operatives of the LASTMA Night Gang Surveillance and Monitoring Patrol Team along the Badagry Expressway responded swiftly to the scene and evacuated the body of the motorcyclist, who was trapped beneath the truck’s front tyre.
The truck driver was later apprehended and handed over to officers of the Nigeria Police Force at Okokomaiko Division and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) for further investigation.