The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has registered deep consternation over a harrowing traffic incident that unfolded in the early hours of today on the Odo Iya-Alaro Bridge inward Maryland along the Ikorodu Road corridor, resulting in a grievous limb fracture sustained by a delivery motorcyclist.
Preliminary security investigations at the scene revealed that the unfortunate occurrence was catalyzed by the residual disruptions following a truck inferno earlier in the morning at the same location. The aftermath of the fire incident had engendered a severe slow traffic impasse along the entire Ikorodu Road axis.
Amid the protracted slow vehicular movements, a private ambulance (BED 508 EA) conveying a pregnant woman dependent on oxygen support recklessly elected to traverse against traffic (one-way) at an imprudent and perilous speed. This dangerous manoeuvre culminated in a forceful collision with a delivery motorcyclist legitimately navigating his designated lane, instantly inflicting a grave and excruciating fracture to his right knee.
In an expeditious and meticulously coordinated emergency intervention, LASTMA Officers alerted the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), which promptly deployed two ambulances to the scene. The pregnant woman, along with her life-support apparatus, was safely transloaded into one LASAMBUS ambulance, while the second conveyed the severely injured motorcyclist to the nearest medical facility for immediate treatment.
The driver of the private ambulance was apprehended on-site by LASTMA Officials and subsequently handed over to operatives of the Ogudu Police Division for comprehensive interrogation and potential prosecution in accordance with extant laws.
LASTMA personnel further effected the safe removal of both the accident-damaged ambulance and the wrecked delivery motorcycle, thereafter transferring the vehicles to the Ogudu Police Division. Throughout the rescue effort, police operatives provided sustained security reinforcement, ensuring seamless emergency operations and the preservation of vital evidentiary material.
The General Manager of LASTMA, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, reaffirmed the Agency’s uncompromising zero-tolerance posture towards the dangerous and unlawful act of driving against traffic.
He urged ambulance operators and all emergency service drivers to adhere strictly to safety protocols, particularly when conveying medically fragile patients, so as to avert avoidable tragedies on Lagos roads.
Mr. Bakare-Oki conveyed his sincere wishes for a rapid and complete recuperation to both the injured motorcyclist and the expectant mother, emphasizing LASTMA’s unwavering commitment to its statutory mandate of protecting lives and restoring order and civility across all transportation corridors within Lagos State.
