Soldiers on Friday unleashed violence on Palmgrove and Onipanu areas of the Ikorodu Road in Lagos State as they destroyed BRT buses and brutalised residents following the killing of a lance corporal identified as Matthew Ishaya, who was knocked down by one of the buses.
The lance corporal was said to be riding a power bike when he collided with the BRT bus that killed him.
An eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Oladosu, said, “The BRT driver wanted to swerve from its lane and could not control the speed at which he was moving when the accident occurred. The soldier too was on top speed. So, neither of them was able to slow down when the incident occurred. The soldier ran under the bus and died in the process.”
It was, however, learnt that the soldier was preparing to hold a naming ceremony for his newly-born baby on Saturday (today).
When the driver of the bus discovered that he had killed the soldier, he was said to have fled.
Dozens of soldiers said to have come from the Intelligence Unit of the Nigerian Army at Yaba, later stormed the Palmgroove, Obanikoro, Fadeyi and Onipanu areas, setting ablaze BRT buses in sight.
As of the time our correspondents visited the scene, not less than six BRT buses had been set ablaze at the Palmgroove and Onipanu areas. Two of the buses were seen still burning at 12noon.
The soldiers blocked one side of the road, creating at least a six hour traffic standstill on the usually busy Ikorodu Road.
The shed at the bus stop was also not spared as it was razed.
One of our correspondents noted that a filling station was located beside where the BRT buses were set ablaze.
Apart from the burnt buses, 10 others were vandalised with window smashed and their tyres punctured.
Eye witnesses also recounted tales of the beating that residents, passersby and onlookers got from the rampaging soldiers.
Journalists and curious residents, who attempted to take photographs or make recordings at the scene of the mayhem, were not spared as phones, cameras, tablets and iPads were confiscated and smashed by the rampaging soldiers.
An eyewitness said, “They beat people and smashed their smartphones and tablets. They even beat a policeman who was trying to capture the incident.”
One of the policemen, who was at the scene, confirmed the incident to our correspondent.
He said, “As you can see, we even had to call our commissioner to plead with the soldiers to release our colleague’s phone. He is there begging them.”
An operations manager of the BRT scheme, Mr. Joseph Anosike, said, “We have driven all our buses to the depot to prevent them from further destruction.
“I have called all our drivers to remove all our buses from the road and park them. The soldiers are not even allowing any of our buses to ply the road anymore.
“Once the soldiers see any in sight, they order the passengers to disembark and then set it ablaze or smash the glasses. We have lost some buses in the process.”
Though military authorities have blamed ‘area boys’ for the escalation of the problem, many eye witnesses claimed that the soldiers coordinated and carried out the violence which lasted about six hours.
Another eye witness, Stanley Azuakola, wrote online that he saw a journalist beaten by the soldiers while he was pleading that he was just a journalist.
“His ipad was seized and he was brutalised that he had to be rushed to the hospital,” he said, adding, “Soldiers demanded that the people passing along Palmgrove raise their two hands in the air, as though we are in a war situation. No one was permitted to hold his phone in his hand or receive a call. Not even those driving their personal cars were spared. A young soldier slapped a man making a call inside a bus because he disobeyed an order he was not even aware of.”
Saturday PUNCH learnt that security guards at the gate of the Palmgrove Estate were battered by the rampaging soldiers because the driver of the bus said to have hit the deceased soldier ran into the estate.
One of the guards had to be rushed to hospital.
A spokesman for the Army formation in Yaba, Lagos, Rightman Ogeh, however, denied that the soldiers from the unit burnt buses or harassed passersby or commuters.
Ogeh, who spoke to a radio station in Lagos on Friday, admitted that the soldiers from the unit were aggrieved that the man, who was knocked man, was allowed to die because no one took the initiative to rush him to hospital.
He said, “A soldier, who was passing through the bus stop, saw the soldier and called the office because he could recognise him. By the time we got there, we realised that our colleague was inside the bus already dead.
“They said it was a BRT bus that knocked him down. He was riding a licensed motorcycle. So, why was he not taken to the hospital until he died? Of course, our men were angry and we decided that no BRT bus would be allowed to pass through the road. We did not stop others.”
Ogeh denied that the soldiers burnt the busses, accusing miscreants of perpetrating the act.
He said, “When things like this happen, you will hear different versions, but I can tell you that soldiers did not burn the busses. It is possible that some area boys carried out the act. No one was harassed by soldiers; we only stopped some people who were taking pictures and wanting to film the area.”
However, NURTW 1st BRT, the transport company in charge of the operation of blue Bus Rapid Transit buses plying Mile 12-TBS route denied that its bus crushed a soldier along the Palmgrove end of Ikorodu Road on Friday.
The company, through its Public Relations Officer, Nonye Onwumere, said the deceased soldier was not crushed by a BRT bus but ran into a stationary LAGBUS bus and died in the process.
She said, “On Thursday night, a red LAGBUS, which is run by Mutual Assurance and marked Mo63 broke down on the Ikorodu Road before Palmgrove Bus Stop. Early in the morning, around 7.15am, a soldier on a bike, driving on top speed, rammed into the stationary bus.
“After the accident, three female and two male soldiers going to work alighted from a vehicle to help their colleague. After seeing the extent of the accident, they gathered and became violent, stopping all BRT buses and ordering the passengers down. They beat some of the passengers and the BRT personnel and then set some of our vehicles ablaze. They did not even care to know that our BRT are different from the red buses.
“The accident, which was not caused by our vehicle, has caused enormous loss as four of the buses which are not up to a month old have been burnt beyond repair while 13 others have been seriously vandalised. We lost over N100m.”
According to corridor supervisors at the scene, four BRT personnel were beaten and abducted by the soldiers but were later released.
Onwumere said BRT drivers were constantly trained and were not rough drivers.
She said apart from the over N100m lost, the company also lost revenue because it had to shut down all operations for the day for fear of being attacked again by the soldiers
The 81 Division of the Nigerian Army also denied reports that soldiers were responsible for the violence.
The Army, in a statement signed by the Deputy Director, Public Relations, Lt.- Col. Omale Ochagwuba, alleged that one of its personnel was killed by a BRT bus, but claimed that soldiers did not carry out reprisals.
Ochagwuba said the bus that killed the soldier was intact in custody of the Army.
He said, “On Friday, between 6.30 and 6.45am, a BRT bus knocked down and killed a soldier around Obanikoro area while on his way to the office. The driver of the bus took the body of the soldier into the bus and attempted to drive away. But when the other soldiers who witnessed the incident rushed to the scene, the driver of the bus ran away with the key. The soldiers then secured the vehicle which was later towed away to safety in our custody.
“Area boys then took advantage of the incident and started attacking BRT buses. From observation, you will discover that the BRT buses bunt are far away from the scene of the incident and that the BRT bus that killed the soldier was not attacked nor vandalised and it is still intact. Our personnel were immediately dispatched to the scene to restore normalcy so that traffic could flow.”
Reacting to the incident, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said although he had yet to be formally briefed about the situation, he was aware that the authorities of law enforcement agencies were managing it.
He said, “I have been in touch with the brigade commander, who assured me that he was managing the situation. I am waiting for formal report.
“There is allegation that someone who was not supposed to be on the BRT route was on it.
“As far as I know, if something happens to you while you are conducting an unlawful act. It is criminal offense in its own sense.
“But it is really disappointing that public servants, and that is what soldiers are, paid with tax payers’ money, will act in a manner that has been suggested. But I am waiting for official report and whether the brigade commander has been able to identify the people who committed the offence.”
Fashola added, “I remember in 2006 when soldiers stormed the Area C and set the place ablaze. We just managed to reconstruct the command. If buses that citizens are complaining that are not enough are set ablaze, I do not know how setting ablaze buses recompense any injury that one may have suffered.
“I do not know how damaging public property is the restitution for any injury that may have come. For now, the only thing that I can say to you is that when I get the full fact, I will address the residents, to let them know what happened and what the state action will be.”
Meanwhile, some residents of Lagos have condemned the soldiers’ action.
A Lagos-based lawyer, Festus Keyamo, described the incident as unfortunate.
He said, “If it is true that the soldiers took to the streets to burn and destroy those buses, it means they still need civil reorientation. They still need to be told that we are in a democratic era.
Another legal practitioner, Jiti Ogunye, said, “What we witnessed in Lagos yesterday is gross irresponsibility by the soldiers. It is prejudicial and a grievous act against the defenseless masses and the ethics of service discipline that the military should be known for. “
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