It was another black Saturday in Abeokuta, the Ogun
State capital, yesterday as no fewer than 20 persons which included an infant,
perished in an auto crash.
Our correspondent gathered that the accident which
occurred before the Police College located along the Abeokuta-Siun- Shagamu
Express Road, at about 7.30 a.m., involved an 18-seater Toyota Hiace with
registration number: Ogun XF 795 AAB and an articulated Volvo tipper, with
number plate, Lagos JJJ 489 XB.
The victims of the 18-passenger bus belonging to LUKDOS
Transport Company, were said to be members of the African Church Solution Camp,
situated within the entrance gate of the Sam Ewang Estate in Abeokuta. Sunday
Mirror learnt that they were on their way to Lagos for a wedding programme of
one of the church’s members.
The Volvo truck was said to be on its way from Shagamu
en route from Abeokuta before it swerved off its lane and rammed into the bus.
As at the time Sunday Mirror visited the scene of the
accident, the combined officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC),
State Fire Service, the Police and that of the State Traffic Compliance and
Enforcement Agency (TRACE) were busy evacuating the dead and the injured to the
hospital.
Ogun state Sector Commander of the FRSC, Abayomi
Omiyale, who also confirmed the accident, said nine females, five males and an
infant (less than one year old) died on the spot while others gave up on the
way to the hospital.
He told Sunday Mirror that a two-year-old girl who
sustained head injuries was being treated at the State Hospital, Ijaiye.
Omiyale, however, stated that the dead had been
deposited at the morgue of the State Hospital, Ijaye and Federal Medical
Centre, Idi-Aba in Abeokuta.
Meanwhile, the TRACE coordinator, Sola Bamidele, who
was at the scene, blamed the accident on the truck driver’s recklessness.
He said the authorities were still trying to get in
touch with the transport company to get manifest of the passengers