People lost their lives in flash floods in several states across the country in 2018, following heavy rains that caused the Rivers Niger and Benue to overflow

Tessy Igomu

The passing year 2018 was one characterised by a number of tragic incidents that led to huge losses and claimed the lives of many across the country.

One of such incidents was the Otedola Bridge inferno. Thursday, June 28, 2018, would always be remembered as a black day in Lagos. That day, a fully-loaded 33,000-litre fuel tanker exploded on Otedola Bridge, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, killing 12 people and razing at least 67 vehicles. The 19-year-old truck was said to have been carrying content twice its capacity before it exploded.

Black Thursday, Otedola bridge and articulated vehicles

It was not the first. On March 1, the Iyana-Odo axis of the LASU-Isheri Expressway in Lagos was rocked by a pipeline explosion. Though no life was lost, it created apprehension and pandemonium in the area.

On Sunday, September 9, journalist and publisher of Brand Campaign Magazine, Akinwunmi Dickson, and his 12-year-old son, Nelson, were killed after a fire gutted a shopping complex on Awolowo Way, Ikeja, Lagos. The deceased were asleep in the office located in the complex when the incident happened at about 5am.

Tuesday, October 2, saw nine vehicles totally destroyed in a fire incident that occurred between Barracks and Onireke bus stops along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

On October 14, another pipeline explosion claimed no fewer than 24 lives in Osisioma, a sleepy community in Abia State. The chairman of Osisioma Local Government Traditional Rulers Council, Eze Ikechukwu Chiavoghilefu, put the casualty figure at 150. The incident reportedly took place while villagers tried to scoop fuel from a ruptured pipeline network that conveyed petrol from Port Harcourt to Aba.

On Wednesday, December 19, many were wounded and houses worth millions of naira destroyed in the Abule Egba area of Lagos following a pipeline explosion that ravaged the community. The fire reportedly started as a result of spillage from bunkering activities.

For the people of Rivers State, the Christmas Day celebration was marred by tragedy, as three were killed and scores wounded following a tanker explosion that occurred at the Rumuola junction in Port Harcourt. Properties were destroyed in the incident after a tanker loaded with petroleum products overturned and exploded following a break failure.

Boat Mishaps

On Saturday, February 17, 19 children were drowned in a boat mishap in Lafiagi, Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State. The boat, loaded 22 people, capsized while conveying the victims across River Niger to a wedding in Niger State.

Also, on Thursday, October 26, a boat mishap at the Buruku end of River Kastina Ala claimed 20 lives. On Wednesday, November 7, three persons were confirmed dead, 12 rescued and five declared missing after a boat conveying 20 passengers capsized at Liverpool, Coconut Under

Bridge, in Lagos State. The passengers were travelling to Ojo from Coconut Jetty.

Articulated vehicle accidents

On Saturday, December 15, two persons were killed when a container fell off a truck onto two cars along Bank Anthony Way, Onigbongbo, Lagos, killing one person and injuring another.

Before then, on Tuesday, July 19, it was yet another tragedy on the popular Ojuelegba Bridge in Lagos as a truck heading towards Fadeyi lost control and crushed three people instantly. Several people also sustained injuries in the crash.

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On July 28, the drivers of a Sienna and Camry escaped death when a container truck fell on the vehicles at Tin-Can Island, Apapa, Lagos. On October 24, a truck heading to Cele, conveying another bad truck, got involved in a lone accident that left the conductor dead at Iyana-Isolo, along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. Also in October, nine people were killed

in an accident involving a Mercedes-Benz Marcopolo Bus and an Iveco truck in the Aseese area on the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway.

On Sunday, July 2, several lives were lost following a multiple auto crash at Ile Zik Bus Stop on the Agege Motor Road in Lagos. On July 5, four persons, including a 200 level student of the University of Port Harcourt, died in a road accident in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

On July 21, two persons illegally hanging onto a
train were crushed to death when the train averted a collision with an abandoned commercial bus at Pen Cinema, Lagos. On August 13, a man lost his life after an articulated truck lost control and crushed 14 vehicles along the Anuja-Keffi Highway.

On August 23, six persons were confirmed dead in an auto crash between a truck and a commercial bus along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway. The truck, with registration number GME838XX, was said to have crushed the bus while jostling for the right of way at a bad portion by Amavo Junction, Osisioma Ngwa Local Government area of Abia State.

On August 31, a former acting managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Pastor Power Aginighan, his son, Tammy, and a police orderly died in an accident around the Mbiama end of the East-West Expressway in Delta State.

Suicides

Statistics released this year showed that Nigeria has the highest number of suicide mortality in Africa. On Tuesday, October 23, a senior lecturer with the Department of Biological Sciences, Professor Frank Onyezili, committed suicide.

In February, a student of Abia State University, Wilson Chukwudi, allegedly committed suicide because he failed to graduate after two academic sessions.

Also in March, Adams, a final-year student of Computer Engineering at the University of Benin, was found dangling from the roof of his room in Ekosodim community in Ovia North- East Local Government Area of Edo State.

Still in March, a young banker committed suicide by drinking insecticide in Ughelli, Delta State, after her husband allegedly brought another woman home.

A teenager identified as Loveth was also reported to have committed suicide by drinking poison after scoring 160 in her University Matriculations Examinations.

In July, an undergraduate of Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Aduba Daniel, reportedly committed suicide by drinking a deadly insecticide known as Sniper. It was discovered that the deceased had carry-overs in four courses and this might have led him to take his life.

In the early hours of Tuesday, October 3, an unidentified man reportedly jumped into the Lagos lagoon and took his life. His lifeless body was later found by fishermen and officials of
the Lagos State Waterways Authority.

Recently, on Wednesday, December 26, a young lady, a 300 level student of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Aisha Omolola, committed suicide in her apartment in Samaru, Zaria.

Flooding

Scores of people lost their lives in flash floods in several states across the country in 2018, following heavy rains that caused the River Niger and the River Benue to overflow. Some of the states affected were Kogi, Niger, Anambra, Kano, Taraba, Adamawa, Kebbi, Edo, Rivers, Benue, Bayelsa and Kwara.

18 schoolchildren, teachers killed as flash floods sweep away school bus