No blood sucking demon on Otedola bridge, Lagos assures motorists

The Lagos State Government has assured motorists that there is no blood-sucking demon on the Otedola Bridge, explaining why tragic accidents have continued to occur around the bridge in recent times.

Addressing transportation correspondents during its 2026 Media Parley held in Lagos on Thursday evening, the General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, explained that most accidents on the Otedola Bridge had been caused by the behavioural patterns of truck drivers.

According to the LASTMA general manager, “Series of integrity tests have been carried out on the Otedola Bridge, and the results have shown that there is nothing wrong with the bridge.

“Many of the accidents that have occurred have been down to the behavioural patterns of the drivers. Some of these drivers engage in narcotic drug use to stay awake at the wheel for long hours.

“If people have been taking notice, these accidents usually happen when these trucks are on their way out of Lagos. When the trucks are loading at the ports, the drivers are in their best appearance. But once they have loaded and are heading out of Lagos, they engage in all sorts of narcotic drugs to stay active behind the wheel.

“Lagos feeds the entire Nigeria, including some West African countries, in terms of wet and dry cargoes. Over 60 per cent of goods destined for other parts of Nigeria and some West African countries leave from Lagos. So, the increasing commerce in the state is another factor that causes accidents on the Otedola Bridge.”

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Also shedding more light on the state of the Otedola Bridge and the recent accidents around it, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, debunked claims that there was a blood-sucking demon on the bridge.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation said, “At a point, we became worried that there were too many accidents happening on the Otedola Bridge, and so we had to write to the Federal Ministry of Works, and an examination was carried out on the bridge. It was confirmed that there was no engineering defect on that bridge.

“However, trading activities around the bridge are one major reason why there are accidents on the bridge. Sometimes, during the peak of trading, traders take over one lane of the bridge. This is aside from the issues the LASTMA general manager raised earlier.

“Another cause of accidents on the Otedola Bridge is the overloading of trucks. A petroleum tanker that is supposed to carry 33,000 litres of fuel will carry 45,000 litres.

“So, the myth that the Otedola Bridge sucks blood is not true. I can tell you that for free. It is down to drivers’ recklessness, trading activities and overloading of trucks.”