Members of the Take It Back Movement, TIB, on Friday afternoon rescued victims of a road accident on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway while returning from Kiribo, in an incident that has again exposed serious lapses in Nigeria’s emergency response system.
The accident occurred at Lufuwape, shortly after the Redeemed Christian Church of God Camp, when a commercial bus conveying men and women of Hausa origin somersaulted following a tyre burst. Witnesses described the scene as chaotic, with injured passengers trapped and others sprawled along the roadside.
According to a statement by Comrade Adekunle Adeyemi Taofeeq, the Coordinator, Lagos State Chapter of the Take It Back Movement, its members were travelling back from Kiribo when they came upon the accident and immediately stopped to render assistance.
“Today, we witnessed what could have been a mass tragedy,” the statement said. “A bus conveying some Hausa men and women somersaulted at Lufuwape, just after the Redeem Camp, after a tyre burst. The sight was terrifying.”
The movement said its members did not hesitate to assist the victims.
“Without thinking twice, we jumped out of our vehicle to rescue the victims,” the statement added. Although no immediate deaths were recorded at the scene, about five to six commuters sustained severe, life-threatening injuries, requiring urgent medical attention.
TIB members said efforts to activate official emergency response were frustrating. A call was placed to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Redeem Police Division, who reportedly promised to deploy officers to the scene but failed to arrive, “We called the DPO, Redeem Division, hoping for an urgent response. He promised to come to the scene with his men. We waited. He never showed up,” the movement stated.
The situation was eventually stabilised through the swift intervention of a medical professional among the TIB members, Comrade Folayemi Akinfolarin, who contacted emergency services and coordinated communication with responders, “Emergency services were contacted immediately, all necessary details were provided, and within minutes, an ambulance arrived to convey the injured to the hospital,” the statement noted.
Beyond the institutional failures, the movement expressed deep concern over what it described as a disturbing culture of indifference displayed by some members of the public at the scene, “What broke my hearts most was that while lives hung in the balance, many people stood around doing nothing but taking pictures,” Adekunle Adeyemi Taofeeq, Lagos state Coordinator said.
Reflecting on the incident, the movement raised critical questions about the fate of accident victims in situations where no prompt citizen intervention occurs, “We keep asking ourselves: what if we weren’t there? What if this accident didn’t happen right before our eyes? What would have been the fate of those victims?” the statement read.
The Take It Back Movement said the incident underscores a broader national crisis, “This experience exposes a painful truth about our society, poor emergency response, institutional failure, and a growing culture of indifference. Lives are lost not always because help is unavailable, but because people and authorities fail to act when it matters most. We must do better. Lives depend on it.”
The movement called on relevant authorities to urgently strengthen emergency response mechanisms on major highways, particularly the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, while urging citizens to prioritise empathy and action over spectacle during emergencies.
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