Kenneth Udeh from Abuja
There is currently heavy gridlock along the Bwari, Tasha expressway in Abuja following a road crash involving two armoured tanks and a patrol van belonging to the Nigerian Army, which were believed to be heading towards Bwari area council of Abuja.
The incident which occurred on Sunday afternoon caused serious gridlock as the armoured tanks covered the entire one way on the express lane leading out of Bwari. According to eyewitnesses, the two armoured tanks which were being conveyed on a flat-bed trailer slided off its hook as the flatbed trailer approached the hilly part of the expressway. During the course of falling off , one of the armoured tanks collided with the Army patrol van which was escorting the vehicles from behind.
The two mega sized tanks completely fell off the flat bed trailer vehicles in which they were being conveyed in while the Toyota hilux patrol vehicle was badly damaged and almost mangled. The flatbed part of the trailer was also turned over. Although, it couldn’t be ascertained if there were any casualties, however , some men of the Nigerian Army were sighted sitting on the expressway nursing minor injuries, while other men of the Army were seen directing traffic.
As a result of the situation, vehicles were diverted to use one way of the expressway which caused a long traffic jam from the Usafa junction up until Dutse junction. Some passengers had to disembark from the vehicles to trek while motorists had to manoeuvre their way.
Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were later seen arriving at the accident spot with their huge towing rescue van, while some of their officers joined the Nigerian Army to direct the traffic.
Efforts to reach the officials of the FRSC and the Nigerian army to comment on the incident proved abortive as they prevented and harassed motorists of other road users from taking photos of the incident.