BRT Crushes Primary School Pupil in Lagos

Chiemelie Ezeobi
A primary school pupil, Ezekiel Daniel, was on Monday crushed to death by a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along the Idi-iroko/Ogolonto area of Ikorodu, Lagos.

The pupil was said to have attempted to cross the road to enter the Cherubim and Saraphim (C&S) School when the BRT, plying on its lane, hit and ran him over.

It was gathered that the incident almost led to a riot before the police and Lagos taskforce succeeded in dispersing the crowd and restored normalcy.

Before the crowd was dispersed, they angrily lampooned the state government for not constructing a pedestrian bridge near the schools in that axis.

According to them, the accident happened because the man that usually stands on the road to cross the school children was absent,
One Asoro Abubakri Olatunji, an eyewitness, said: “It is a blackMonday at Idi-Iroko/Ogolonto as Blue BRT crushed a primary school pupil of C&S to death.

“The deceased is identified as Ezekiel Daniel. As at the time of this report, the body of the pupil is still lying unattended to.

“Authorities should sweep into action as soon as possible. Moreso, a lasting solution should be provided to curb incessant BRT killings in that area.
“This can be done especially by erecting  a bridge to save pupils who cross that road every morning in quest for knowledge.”

Flaying the absence of pedestrian bridges on an expressway that has about six primary school in that axis, most residents of Ikorodu charged the state government to do the needful as such cases are on the increase.

Ifeanyi Edmund said: “The pertinent question is why would you have schools without pedestrian crossing?
“A Zebra Crossing that won’t cost us much would have saved the child’s life. We are just our own problems in this country.”

Oge Atueqwu who claimed to have witnessed the accident, said: “The scene was horrific. It almost caused a riot but the special Taskforce came and dispersed the crowd.

“There are primary and secondary schools in the area, why can’t the government build pedestrian bridges there? The bridge we have in that bus stop is far from the schools.”

When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, debunked claims of outbreak of violence at the scene, adding that no BRT was destroyed as the police calmed down frayed nerves.
He said: “We went there and although people gathered, they were dispersed. Nothing was destroyed or burnt there. Normalcy has since been restored to the area.”