National Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday came to the rescue of about 40 stranded international travelers from Togo heading to Abia State, Nigeria whose bus broke down due to a mechanical fault at the Long bridge along Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The travellers who informed the agency’s officials on special operations to ensure free flow of traffic during the Yuletide said their bus broke down around 2am on Wednesday.
The agency had to mandate the owner of the bus to provide necessary meals and drinks for the stranded passengers at about 10:00 a.m.
A temporary shelter was provided for the women and children while the men were assisting with the repairs of the bus.
The driver and escort initially claimed to be going for a crusade because of the banner on the bus but had to recant when NEMA raised the issue of wether they were traffickers.
It was then the driver confirmed that the bus had made three trips from Togo to Abia and the people confirmed that they are Nigerians and passengers going home to celebrate Christmas.
At another location, a family was saved when the Lexus SUV jeep caught fire and were helped out of the vehicle.
The family were heading to Benin in Edo State.
They were helped to a mechanic workshop for possible repairs in the hope of continuing their journey.
Earlier in the day, NEMA and Federal Road Safety Corps had appealed to travellers to make use of alternative routes exting Lagos instead of Lagos – Ibadan Expressway due to a gasoline tanker carrying petroleum motor spirit (PMS) tjat crashed at Mowe and caused serious gridlock that got to Long bridge.
NEMA is appealing to travellers to be cautious of the weather in view of the harmattan haze that could impair visibility.
