A Lagos trader who deals with shoes, Christopher Ngobidi, has been crushed to death by a train around the Nigerian Army Shopping Arena, Oshodi, Lagos State.
According to reports, Christopher Ngobidi was waiting for the gate of the shopping mall to open when he saw the approaching train which had earlier collided with a white Ford Ecoline 250 bus with number plate, GGE 972 GE, at the PWD area.
The train, while pulling the Ford vehicle, got to the Army Shopping Arena, where Ngobidi parked his Toyota Highlander on the rail tracks.
On seeing the train approach,Ngobidi raced to the vehicle to rescue his son, who was sleeping in the vehicle, but was crushed to death by the train.
A witness, Hezekiah Adekanmi, said, “The man parked on the rail track while he was waiting for the Arena gate to be opened. While the train was coming with a bus that it had earlier hit, it started honking. But the man, who was not in the car, remembered that his son was inside the vehicle and he ran to rescue him.
“Before he could come out of the vehicle, they were hit by the train and pushed inside a gutter. The man died immediately, while his son was injured. The train still dragged the bus to the Oshodi under bridge before it stopped.”
One of the shop owners around Ngobidi’s shop, Efechukwu Udeh, who described the deceased as a nice man, lamented that he would be sorely missed.
He said, “Christopher (Ngobidi) was my neighbour in this market and he was nice to everybody.
“The man attempted to rescue his son who was sleeping inside the vehicle when the train crushed him, while his son was injured. The boy is unconscious at the hospital. Christopher’s wife called me this morning to ask after the husband, but I had to lie to her that he had not got to the market yet because I don’t know what to tell her.”
The Head of Public Affairs of LASEMA, Nosa Okunbor, confirmed the report saying “Upon arrival at the scene, it was discovered that a white bus, with number plate GGE 972 GE, veered onto the rail tracks while crossing the railway line at the PWD inward Oshodi and subsequently collided with a scheduled commuter train.
“The bus was dragged along by the train for a stretch of the journey before managing to come to a complete halt at the Oshodi under bridge.
“It was also gathered that while the train was pulling the bus, it crashed into a stationary Toyota Highlander Sport Utility Vehicle, with the number plate FST 763 FL. The driver of the SUV lost his life during the incident, while his son, who was with him in the SUV was taken to One Life private hospital, opposite the Arena, Bolade, Oshodi.”
