Following the accident involving a fuel laden taker in the early hours of Tuesday, the Ogun state government has banned tankers and other articulated vehicles from plying overhead bridges in the state.
Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun, who handed the order after inspecting the accident scene at Kuto Abeokuta, said henceforth, tanker drivers would no longer be allowed to use the bridges, adding that anyone who flouts the order would be made to pay stiff penalty.
“Tanker drivers will no longer be allowed to use the bridges. Anything that has trailer behind it, be it trailers, flatbeds and other articulated vehicles of either 33 or 66 tonnes, are henceforth banned from using the bridges,” he ordered.
The governor, who recalled similar accident at Ota in 2019, also stated that the state would enforce road worthiness to ensure that articulated vehicles plying the roads are worthy to avoid such future occurrences.
“We are going to enforce strict road worthiness on tankers and other articulated vehicles to ensure that they are mechanically good to use our roads”, the governor noted.
On what caused the accident, the governor said, “as at 8am, it was reported that a tanker coming from Sagamu and heading towards Abeokuta with full load of 33,000 litres of PMS, suffered break failure as it was descending the Kuto flyover.”
“The driver tried to warn people and in the process of trying to control the vehicle, it swerved across the median and collided with other vehicles and motorcycles and tumbled. Three instant fatalities were recorded, while six people suffered various degrees of burn,” the governor said.
He described the accident as an unfortunate event, saying that six of the injured, three each, have been admitted at the State Hospital Ijaye and Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, just as government has invited Burnt Specialists from Lagos to attend to those with severe burnt.
