BY FOLASHADE KEHINDE
… confirms 2 killed, 10 injured, 23 vehicles burnt
THE Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said, on Saturday, that a group of herders believed to be Fulani boys, attacked a joint team of its men and the Fire Service, who were deployed to the Kara axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway for a recovery operation at the scene of a tanker explosion.
The DG, LASEMA, Femi Oke-Osanyintiolu, said the agency responded to the incident at 0105hrs on Saturday morning, according to stipulated emergency response plan.
The suspected herders, he said, were armed with dangerous weapons, noting that the deployed team had to seek extra police cover from the Police Division in the area.
The miscreants caused significant damage to vehicles and threats to the lives of the agency’s personnel, he added.
Oke-Osanyintiolu said, “The joint team (Lagos Fire and LASEMA) was waylaid on arrival by a group of herders believed to be Fulani boys brandishing dangerous weapons and was forced to seek extra police cover from the Isheri Police Station.
“The operation commenced with police protection until the group of assailants grew larger and caused significant damage to vehicles and threat to the lives of our personnel.”
While pointing out that the situation had forced his men to suspend the rescue operation, the DG noted, “It is of note that this attack is part of a very worrisome trend of first responders being attacked in the course of their duties.”
They were however able to return to the scene to complete the operation with beefed up security.
Post-disaster assessment of the agency revealed: Two fatalities (driver of tanker and motor boy); 10 casualties who received on the spot treatment; 23 vehicles affected including one tanker containing 45,000 litres of petrol; one luxurious passenger bus, two articulated vehicles and 19 cars.
As of the time of filing this report, the rescue operation had been completed and normalcy restored in the area.
The Point had reported that a fuel tanker caught fire after an accident at the Kara area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, leaving two people burnt to death and about 35 vehicles razed.
The driver of the tanker and a motorboy were the victims burnt to death in the unfortunate incident, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday.
Spokesperson for the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the incident to journalists in Abeokuta.
He said the over 35 vehicles that were burnt, included those parked on the highway.
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