Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (aka Jandor), governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, has tasked the state government on the need to provide barriers at roads leading to rail lines to prevent accidents.
Jandor made the call during a visit to PWD, Ikeja, Lagos, where a Lagos State government staff bus had a head-on-collision with a moving train causing the death of some passengers, while many were injured.
The governorship candidate, who was later denied entry into the Ikeja General Hospital to see the victims of the incident, described the train incident as sad, and unbecoming of a cosmopolitan state like Lagos.
“The incident is so sad. I think it’s about time we began to have barriers that would stop vehicles when trains are coming.
“This is a kind of responsibility for the government. We cannot continue like this, there should be a barrier on the rail line, when trains are coming.
“I’m sure we are going to get it right, I will be going to the hospital to see the victims so that we know how to provide succuor to them.
“This is getting too much, we saw the fire incident that occurred in a market in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government yesterday and I would be going there too to see the level of damage.
“We will get it right as a government. We should prevent vehicles from passing, when trains are coming,” he said.
No fewer than seven staff of Lagos State government were reported dead and many others sustained varying degrees of injuries when a staff bus and a commercial train had head-on collision along Agege motor road in Lagos State.
The accident occurred on Thursday morning around PWD bus stop when the bus was about to cross the rail track when it collided with the train at the location.
Meanwhile, the PDP gubernatorial candidate has said that the incessant fire incidents in markets across the state would become a thing of the past under his government.
Jandor, spoke during a visit to the Akere Spare Market in Apapa area of Ajeromi Ifelodun on Friday, saying that the incident is a proof that some people were hell bent on making life difficult for traders in the state.
The governorship candidate also donated a sum of N5 million to the traders to ameliorate their loss in the fire incident, while promising to rebuild the market if he is elected as governor in the 2023 election.
According to Jandor, “I want to assure you that by His grace, after this coming Saturday election, we will now have a government that would protect everybody irrespective of where he came from.
“Enough of all of these co-ordinated attacks on people. It’s unfortunate that some people would put themselves together and what they do for livelihood is to take the means of livelihood of other people.
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“It’s so ungodly and this has been going on for so long because the government of the day is protecting them.
“The battle that is before us is not just to go out and cast our votes, it’s also a spiritual war, we will call on God to come and prevail. I can tell you for free that this is not an accident, it is a coordinated attack.
“By the time I assume office as the Governor of Lagos State, we will bring these people to justice. All of them would be brought to book and I would parade them. I commiserate with you. Don’t nurse any fear, Lagos is your home, this is where you live, you pay taxes and levies here, your children are here.
“I know anytime each of you visits home, whether Umuahia or Anambra, Nnewi or Ilah in Delta State, the next thing the people would ask you is when are you going back, which means this is your place and we will do everything to protect you.”
Akere motor spare parts market went up in flames in the early hours of Wednesday March 8, 2023, when some suspected hoodlums reportedly invaded the market and set it on fire after killing the security man on guard.
