Lagos State to prosecute truck owner, driver in tanker explosion

The Lagos State government is perfecting plans to prosecute the owner and driver of the ill-fated fuel tanker, which exploded last Thursday on Otedola Bridge inward Ojodu Berger along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Imohimi Edgal, said yesterday.

Already, the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, had at the weekend written to the CP to advise him on the relevant provisions of the law that could guide the ongoing investigation, which would lead to possible prosecution.

Confirming receipt of the letter while briefing state house correspondents after the Security Council Meeting chaired by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Edgal said investigations into the incident were ongoing, adding that government would not allow vehicles that pose serious danger to residents on the road.

The police boss, who briefed journalists alongside heads of other security agencies in the state, specifically commiserated with those who lost their loved ones to the tragic incident, while also commending emergency responders who quickly raced to the scene to keep the causality figure low.

“Henceforth, we are using this opportunity to call on all tanker drivers, all lorry drivers, all owners of such articulated vehicles to please submit those vehicles for Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) test; they must go through the entire hub and get the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) Certificate of Road Worthiness.

We will not allow such vehicles which obviously pose serious danger to other road user

Edgal also urged residents to always refrain from converging on the scene of any accident of such magnitude as that of the unfortunate tanker fire incident, saying there could be secondary explosion, which could lead to loss of lives.

This is just as the state government has revealed that two of the survivors of the Otedola Tanker Explosion have died increasing the death toll from the fire incident to 12.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, addressing the media yesterday said 10 persons, nine adults and a minor were burnt beyond recognition on the day of the incident.

Idris disclosed that seven survivors were taken to the state facilities of which one of the victims had about 90 per cent burnt. He added that the second survivor who died was recorded at a private facility.

The commissioner said the government would be conducting DNA forensic studies so that the right bodies can be handed over to the appropriate families for proper burial.

Idris further said: “In order for this to be done, we would be taking samples from relations in this order: mother or father of the victim, child of the victim, sibling of victim and uncle or aunt of victim.”

Meanwhile, billionaire oil magnate, Femi Otedola has suspended his Twitter account until he is verified due to multiple attempts to impersonate him on the social media platform.

Announcing his move yesterday, Otedola wrote: “Good day to the online community. Due to the fraudulent and disingenuous exploitation of my persona on this platform, tweets from me on this account are suspended forthwith until I am verified by Twitter. Thank you. F.Ote$”

The decision came following a tweet by a fake account commiserating with victims of the recent Lagos tanker explosion incident. The impersonator promised cash gifts to families in the name of Otedola and said that the tanker involved in the accident was his.

This prompted Otedola to post a statement on the account before suspending tweeting activities. He joined the micro blogging platform in February 2018.

However the handle @realFemiOtedola started activities in May, a few weeks after his debut on Instagram. Since the Billionaire announced his presence on social media, twitter users have witnessed tweets from fake accounts who were all claiming to be the real Femi Otedola.