- A horrific collision between a Sinotruk and a Toyota Hiace bus at Saapade Bridge claimed ten lives and left six others injured on Sunday night.
- Preliminary investigations by the FRSC blame the fatal crash on speed violations, dangerous driving, and the truck driver reversing on the highway.
- Emergency responders evacuated the injured to Victory Hospital in Ogere, while the deceased were deposited at the FOS Mortuary in Ipara.
A devastating road traffic accident along the busy Ibadan–Lagos Expressway has claimed the lives of ten persons, leaving six others with varying degrees of severe injuries.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the grim incident, which threw commuters into panic, occurred on Sunday night, July 5, 2026, at approximately 8:05 pm near the prominent Saapade Bridge axis.
EDITOR’S PICK
- Hamzat Appoints Obanikoro as Campaign DG Ahead of 2027 Lagos Governorship Race
- Tinubu’s State Police Plan Gains Momentum as Amendment Looms
- Residents Raise Alarm After Two Bodies Found in Lagos Waterway
According to official emergency reports, the crash involved two commercial vehicles: a white Sinotruk (CNHTC) heavy-duty truck and a white Toyota Hiace passenger bus bearing the registration number EKY 290 YM.
Confirming the tragic event to journalists, the spokesperson for the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Ogun State Sector Command, Afolabi Odunsi, released an official statement detailing the casualties and the primary human factors that led to the crash.
Odunsi disclosed that a total of 18 individuals were caught up in the highway collision. The demographics of the victims involved included fifteen adult males, two adult females, and one male child.
The impact of the high-speed crash resulted in the immediate death of nine adult males and the single male child. Meanwhile, six other passengers, comprising four adult males and two adult females, suffered severe bodily injuries.
Fortunately, two adult males among the passengers managed to escape the horrific scene entirely unhurt as the vehicles collided.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the FRSC rescue operatives revealed that the accident was entirely preventable, attributing the crash to a dangerous combination of speed violations, wrongful overtaking, and reckless driving.
According to the structural reconstruction of the event, the driver of the Sinotruk missed his designated exit or route direction on the express road.
In a highly dangerous and illegal maneuver, the truck driver decided to put the heavy-duty vehicle in reverse, driving against oncoming traffic directly on the active highway.
An oncoming Toyota Hiace commercial bus, which was already traveling at a high rate of speed, suddenly encountered the massive reversing truck.
The bus driver attempted to quickly navigate through the rapidly diminishing and limited space available on the lane, but the high velocity made a clean evasive maneuver completely impossible.
The passenger bus rammed violently into the rear of the truck, causing severe structural damage to the bus and instantaneous fatal casualties.
Upon receiving the distress call, FRSC rescue operatives arrived promptly at the Saapade Bridge location to manage the crisis and extricate trapped victims.
The emergency team successfully evacuated the six injured victims, rushing them to Victory Hospital in Ogere for urgent medical treatment.
The bodies of the ten deceased individuals were recovered from the wreckage and deposited at the FOS Mortuary in Ipara for preservation and identification by their relatives.
Following the rescue operation, personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, Ishara Division, moved in to take full custody of both crashed vehicles for further investigation.
Traffic management teams quickly cleared the debris and wreckage from the highway, ensuring that obstruction was minimized and the flow of traffic along the busy Ibadan-Lagos corridor returned to normal.
Reacting to the tragedy, the Ogun State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Corps Commander Oludare Ogunjobi, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased victims while wishing the hospitalized individuals a full and speedy recovery.
Commander Ogunjobi used the sobering occasion to issue a stern warning to motorists across Nigeria, particularly targeting commercial drivers and heavy-duty truck operators who frequent major interstate corridors.
The commander strongly condemned the act of reversing on high-speed expressways, excessive speeding, and other flagrant traffic violations that continually put innocent lives at risk. Ogunjobi reiterated that all road users must strictly adhere to established traffic rules, maintain safe driving speeds, and patiently utilize designated turning points or flyovers whenever they miss their routes.
He emphasized that these basic precautions are vital to preventing needless loss of lives on the nation’s highways.
