Mob destroys LAGBUS for killing five-year-old schoolgirl

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There was confusion at the Otto bus stop, in the Oyingbo area of Lagos State after an angry mob vandalised a mass transit bus (LAGBUS) belonging to the LAGBUS Assets Management Limited for allegedly crushing a five-year-old girl to death, and injuring another pedestrian.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the mob, which smashed the side glasses of the BRT and damaged the front windscreen with stones, were later dispersed by policemen from the Denton division, who towed the vandalised bus to the station.

It was gathered that at about 12pm on Friday, a woman and the schoolgirl, whose name had yet to be known, were walking on the pedestrian side of the Oyingbo-Otto Road, when the LAGBUS driver hit them.

The five-year-old’s legs were said to have been smashed, while another male pedestrian, said to be an okada (motorcycle) rider, was injured.

The girl was reportedly rushed to a nearby hospital where she was confirmed dead.

When our correspondent got to the police division on Monday, the vandalised bus, marked XR 138 AKD, was seen with its seats littered with splinters of broken glasses.

A police source told PUNCH Metro that the driver fled immediately he heard that the victim died in the hospital. He added that some of the youths wanted to set the bus ablaze, but were stopped by the police.



He said, “It was at about 12.30pm on Friday. The woman was the mother of the girl, and they were returning from the school. The LAGBUS hit them at the junction and also hit an okada rider. The police got information that there was commotion in the area, and that some youths might resort to violence, so we moved in and the bus was towed away. The driver is at large.”

At the scene of the accident, PUNCH Metro gathered that the okada rider had hit his head on the ground and bled for a while before he was stabilised by Good Samaritans.

A bus driver, who gave his name only as Wasiu, and claimed to be an eyewitness, said the LAGBUS driver disappeared when he got to know that the girl had died.

“The girl was about five years old. She was being taken home by her mother. We do not know her name. The bus hit them at the pedestrian side. The girl was badly injured. The driver of the LAGBUS initially came down and helped in rushing the girl to a hospital. It was in that process that some youths vandalised the bus. It was when the driver learnt that the girl had died that he fled.

“The other man was bleeding all over. He would have died too, but for the first aid given by the people staying around the scene.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, could not be reached for comment as his line rang out.

The LAGBUS authorities could also not be reached on the line supplied on its website as it rang out.

Source: Punch