By Abdulwahab Abdulah & Kehinde Olasanmi
LAGOS — Head of the Recovery and Accident Unit of Dangote Group, Mr Usman Abdulkadiri, has said the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway accident, which claimed over 40 lives in August 15, 2010 was due to the pursuit of a tokunbo car by the Police, which mounted road block on the expressway.

Abdulkadiri who was led in evidence before a Coroner Inquest, sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, denied claims by the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, that the two reports issued by the commission contradicted each other, maintaining that the truck involved in the accident on the fateful day was in good condition.

He told the coroner that it had been the culture of his organisation to track all their vehicles to prevent unnecessary speed that could endanger other road users.

He said often times, the company compensated victims of accidents involved their trucks, if there was evidence to that effect  noting that with the evidence gathered at the scene of the August 15, 2010 multiple accidents on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, it was the police’s barricade and efforts to arrest an owner of a Tokunbo vehicle that led to the fatal accident.

A  FRSC report had said a Dangote truck, which allegedly rammed into vehicles in a gridlock, had a brake failure, but the company refuted the report.

Asked why his company had done nothing for the victims, he said: “How can somebody make settlements for something he has not done? We only pay if investigation reveals that a Dangote driver or truck is at fault.”

He noted that efforts to trace the whereabout of the driver of the ill-fated truck was yet to produce any result, as search for him did not reveal that he was still alive.