Lagos mother cries for help as BRT knocks son down

BRT

A 16-year-old boy, Sunday Afolabi, has suffered life-altering injuries after he was knocked down by a Bus Rapid Transit vehicle in the Ilepo Oja, Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos State.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the BRT driver, who had stopped for passengers to alight, suddenly moved the bus while Afolabi was attempting to cross the road on April 14.

According to the victim’s mother, Nike Afolabi, her son, who had waved at the BRT driver to indicate that he wanted to cross, was dragged for a long distance, causing him serious injuries.

Nike said her son was immediately rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital for treatment, where doctors declared that he could no longer defecate through his anus due to an injury.

The distressed mother said the victim had been defecating through his stomach.

She alleged that an official of the BRT, who was asked to stay with them at the hospital, had stopped coming and no longer answered her calls.

The mother lamented that she was strapped for funds to continue the boy’s treatment, seeking justice and help in the matter.

Narrating the incident, Nike said, “The BRT had stopped, and passengers were alighting from it. My son waved to the driver to indicate that he wanted to cross. As he was crossing, the driver moved the bus, and part of the bus hooked onto my son’s clothes. He was dragged along by the moving bus.

“The bus continued dragging him until he fainted. It was people at the scene who shouted that the bus was dragging my son. The BRT driver was arrested, but the bus was later taken to the station in the area. Other drivers went to the station, and the driver was released to them.

“At the hospital, we were told that if faeces continued to pass through his anus, the injury would not heal. So, they performed surgery and redirected the passage of faeces to his abdominal area. Once the injury heals, they will return it to its proper place. My son is seriously injured and cannot walk at the moment.”