Ezekiel Daniel, a primary six pupil, was in the early hours of Monday, March 5, 2018, crushed to death by the BRT vehicle.
THE IMPACT gathered that the boy was crushed when he wanted to cross the BRT lane on his to his school.
The development caused pandemonium as people around went berserk, vandalizing other BRT buses passing through the restricted corridor.
It took the intervention of security men to disperse the irate mob and brought the situation under control.
This unfortunate incident generated reactions on the social media, especially THE IMPACT WhatssApp Chat platform, as residents urged the state government to construct pedestrian bridges at strategic points along the Ikorodu-Lagos road.
Residents querried the failure of the government to provide pedestrian bridges on the which had allegedly claimed several lives, especially that of school children, along the same axis where the lastest incident occured.
Yinlka Majekodunmi in his reaction stated that members on THE IMPACT platform should deliberate and issue communique to ask Lagos State Government to construct pedestrian bridges along the axis.
“The tragedy on BRT Lane: I suggest we agree and come up with a communique compelling the state government to construct a pedestrian bridge in that axis. This is necessary as a matter of urgency because we have two schools along that location”, he suggested.
Agboola Odesanya, a teacher of Mass Communication, in his own reaction stated, “Our society must show brilliant examples of CAPABLE LEADERSHIP. There must be an end to the reign of proverbial ‘Awodis’. We travel abroad and see good examples and hail those behind them. Back home, our heads are hardly correct. Those pupils were wasted by a system run on purely poor thoughts for people’s comfort and lives.”
Alhaji Jelili Abubakri, a former student of the deceased’s school, stated that accidents involving students have been incessant occurrences along that axis and called on the government to safeguard the lives of othe students in that area.
“I’ve seen a lot of accident involving students when l was a student at Government College, Ikorodu. Government must do something urgently.”
Mr Ola-Oluwa Godwin, a Community Development activist and Doctorate student in the University of Lagos, called on motorists to always give pedestrians right of way.
“In driving rules, pedestrians always have the right of way.There is no excuse for such action. This is life we are talking about.”
Comrade Asoro Abubakri Olatunji called on the authority concerned to do something urgent in safeguarding the lives of the citizenry.
“Authorities should sweep into action as soon as possible. More so, a lasting solution should be provided to curb incessant BRT killings in that area, especially by erecting a bridge to safe the school children who cross that road every morning in quest for knowledge.”
Mrs Funke Awoyemi, a community activist, was of the opinion that the driver may not be at fault since BRT lane is a restricted lane.
“Don’t be surprised that it may not be the driver’s fault. We see how carelessly our people cross the express.By the way, where are the parents. In whose hand did they put the care of their wards on crossing the express?” she queried.
Mr Ohi Obadan, a Public Relations Expert and Community Development activist in Igbogbo/Bayeku Local Council Development Area, toed the same path with Mrs Awoyemi, stating that pedestrians need to be more careful when crossing BRT corridor.
“ The BRT corridor has be designated as a “dedicated” lane. In order word, a restricted area to human and other vehicular activities…”
In his own contribution, Mr Ibrahim Awwal rhetorically asked who is to be blamed for the unfortunate death of the pupil.
“Who will bear the cross? The boy (for being thirsty of education), the driver for driving on a dedicated lane for rapid transportation, the construction company who failed to see the need for a pedestrian bridge in a school environment.. not just one school but two with a minimum students population close to 7000.”
“Do we blame the government who contracted the road for lack of adequate knowledge of the environment or are too blind to see the need for a pedestrian bridge in a school environment or the local government who has better knowledge of the terrain but couldn’t appeal/compel the state govt/contractor to construct a bridge at that location. Somebody must bear the cross!” he asked.
He added that the society should not always wait for fatalities to happen before doing the right thing.
“Talking about bearing a cross, must we always wait for fatalities before we become proactive to avoidable events? The issue of Allison street has been a recurrent phenomenon for long now, yet no response from the local authorities concerned. How can a school and market mix? God forbid, if suddenly there is a fire outbreak caused by negligence of the traders, then the activist in us will show up again.
