Ota tanker accident: Falana goes to court, demands compensation for victims

Femi Falana, (SAN), human rights activist, says he is ready to go to court in defence of any victim that was involved in the recent tanker fire incident at Sango-Ota in Ogun State, or their willing family members.

Falana spoke on Wednesday at the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Zone 2 4th Quarter 2019 retreat held at Public Staff Development Centre (PSSDC) Magodo, Lagos State.

According to him, somebody must be responsible for any traffic crash on the road.

Recall that two persons died and six others were injured in a fire accident involving a petrol tanker close to the old toll gate at Sango-Ota, Ogun State on Thursday night.

Seventeen vehicles were burnt in the accident that happened around 11.55 pm, according to the FRSC Assistant Corps Commander in Ota, Mr Ganiyu Akeem.

Falana said he was ready to go to court to seek compensation for victims who lost their vehicles and the families of the dead victims Pro Bono.

“That is the whole essence of insurance; they must be compensated, so that we don’t turn their families to beggars on the streets.

“The case must be pursued, we must put smiles on peoples face,” he said.

Falana also tasked the FRSC to always get the authority involved to fix dilapidated roads to prevent future occurrence of such disaster.

According to him, the corps should not only check the road worthiness of vehicles, but also identify roads that are bad and channel the reports to appropriate agencies for rehabilitation.

“The corps must also ensure the reports of bad roads are constantly channelled to Ministry of Works.

‘‘The life span of every road is four years, FRSC must ensure both the federal and state government do their responsibilities as the case may be on road rehabilitation,” he said.

Falana also charged the FRSC to always discharge its duties in line with the law.

“Ignore big men who threaten you on the highways by making calls when they are arrested, do your work in line with the enabling law, always keep your record of any incident and shun briber; then, we’ll be there to defend you,” said.

Mr Samuel Obayemi, the FRSC Zonal Commanding Officer in Charge of Ogun and Lagos States, earlier in his address, said that the corps had done well in terms of patrol operations in the zone.

Obayemi said that the corps was also trying to improve on its service delivery despite many cases of assault by members of the public against its officials.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fourth quarter retreat involved Unit Commanders in both Ogun and Lagos States.