[dropcap]E[/dropcap]kiti Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, escaped a mysterious fire incident in Lagos on Tuesday as his Mercedes-Benz G-wagon Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) reportedly caught fire. The cause of the car fire accident is still unknown as at wednesday.However, the Special Assistant to the governor on New Media and Public Communications, Mr. Lere Olayinka, confirmed it via a statement made available to journalists.Olayinka said the governor was on his way to Lagos Airport when the accident occurred.The statement said: “There was an accident involving the governor’s vehicle on his way to the airport wednesday (Tuesday).“Though he was meant to be in the vehicle, by providence, he was not there. What caused the sudden fire under the vehicle is yet to be ascertained.
“The governor is grateful to God that no casualty was recorded. He also thanked the people who made spirited efforts to put out the fire.”The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, escaped death by a whisker on Tuesday after fire consumed his Mercedes-Benz G-Class on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos State.
A traffic official and witness said the driver of the G-Class, who waited behind until the fire was put off, later went in to pack some burnt N500 notes and other items in the car.He said, “The accident happened around 1.30pm on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway inward Airport Road. It happened on the Oshodi bridge, not too far from the LASTMA’s headquarters.“We cannot tell the exact cause of the fire. We gathered from those at the scene that the governor was in the G-Class when the accident happened and he quickly escaped into another car in his convoy.
“On getting to the scene, we saw the driver who tried to cover his face with a Fez cap. He watched helplessly as the fire raged on. We alerted the state fire service and LASEMA. The LASEMA response unit had to take one way to access the accident scene because the road was blocked because of the inferno.
“On arrival, they were able to douse the fire. The vehicle was seriously burnt. The driver did not talk to anybody. We saw as he started packing some of the burnt cash in the car. They were N500 notes. He packed the money with some other items into a polythene bag. This was in the presence of traffic officials and the police. We later cleared the traffic as the carcass of the car was towed away by LASEMA.”
