Truck driver dies at Tin Can Port

Tayo Oladipupo |

Truckers mourn as a truck driver simplified identified as Olaegbe died at the Tin Can port in the early hours of Friday.

Olaegbe who was said to have died as a result of stress arising from long hours on the road had dropped empty container at the Tin Can Island Port on Thursday but had not been able to get out of the terminal when death came calling.

The body of the deceased has since been taken to his home town of Ogbomosho in Oyo state and burial was conducted immediately afterwards.

According to the owner of the truck, Mr. Idowu Abiodun, Olaegbe had been a truck driver for over twenty-five years and had tutored many others within the period.

Idowu, one of the apprentices, who is a registered member of the National Union of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) Ogbomosho chapter in Oyo state, disclosed that the late driver had complained about an illness and had taken drugs the previous day for the alleged fever after spending several days on the road.

He drove a Mack truck with plate number ‘XA596-BUG’ registered in Zamfara state.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Vice Chairman, Dry Cargo Section of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa Mohammed has pleaded with the Federal Government to ease the burden of truck drivers by resolving the traffic chaos.

“These recent deaths of truck drivers are as a result of the stress in this business. It is unfortunate that we continue to lose drivers.

The government, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), shipping companies and the entire maritime community should collaborate to ease the burden on truck drivers”, he pleaded.