Several schoolchildren are feared
dead after a truck rammed into some students in the Ojodu area of Lagos State.
The incident occurred at Grammar
School Bus-Stop along the Ogunusi Road on Tuesday afternoon when schoolchildren
were returning to their respective homes.
It was gathered that the
driver of the vehicle lost control before hitting the unspecified number of
students.
The Commissioner of Police in the
state, Hakeem Odumosu, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview.
Although he said two students
have been killed so far and others injured, eyewitnesses at the scene gave
conflicting accounts.
While some claimed about 13
students were feared dead, others said 17 schoolchildren died.
They were said to have been
crushed while waiting to cross to the other side of the road.
The truck driver, the police
commissioner explained, attempted to escape after hitting the
schoolchildren.
But the driver was later arrested
by operatives attached to the Divisional Police Headquarters in Ojodu who went
after him after he fled the scene.
Upon his arrest, a mob tried to
lynch the driver but they were resisted by the police who took him into
custody.
Angered by the action of the
security operatives, the crowd began to pelt the police van conveying the
driver.
This led to tension and panic in
the area, causing a gridlock while the police reportedly fired teargas to
disperse the crowd.
The situation was later brought
under control.