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UPDATED: Witnesses Say Army To Blame For Burnt BRT Buses, As Army Deny (PHOTOS)

Published

10 years ago

July 4, 2014

Over 5 BRT buses were set on fire by alleged Nigerian soldiers along Ikorodu Road in Lagos as one of the buses hit and killed another soldier this morning, July 4.
According to witnesses, an unidentified soldier was riding a bicycle to work when the BRT bus knocked him down at the Palmgrove bus stop.
However, Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Army, Gen. Olajide Olaleye, stated that it wasn’t Nigerian soldiers who carried out the rampage.
“It’s not true that soldier destroyed buses or set any bus on fire,” he said. “What happened was that a BRT bus knocked down a soldier and killed him. As usual in Lagos so area boys gathered and a few soldiers stopped at the scene as well. The GOC has dispatched military policemen to the scene to help restore law and order.”
According to previous reports, soldiers at the Abalti Barrack were alerted immediately after the accident. Thus, the road at Palmgrove was blocked by the soldiers as they began to vandalise every BRT in sight, causing a massive traffic.
It was gathered that when the soldiers didn’t the driver, they seized one of the Estate’s security men(pictured below). The man was beaten mercilessly and taken away.
The journalists, who attempted to take photos, were severely beaten by the soldiers, who belonged to an outfit called “OP MESA”. The newsmen had to be rushed to a hospital. Some other pedestrians, who were making calls with their phones or even just holding the phone in sight, were slapped and kicked. Their phones were either seized or damaged.
According to sources, at least 80 soldiers were on the road between Onipanu and Palmgrove. Pedestrians were required to raise their two hands as they passed to avoid being beaten by the soldiers.
See the photos below..