Ogun State Police Command yesterday said it had intensified a manhunt for the runaway driver of the DAF truck which killed eight students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, their driver and three others on Friday on Sagamu-Benin Expressway.
This came as distraught families, relatives and friends of the deceased students besieged the stateowned teaching hospital in Sagamu in search of the remains of their loved ones.
Twelve people reportedly died on Friday when the truck collided with a Mazda commercial bus, leaving only one person critically injured in the accident. The vehicles involved included a DAF trailer marked Lagos BDG 779 XE and a Mazda bus with registration number Lagos XV 311 MUS. The driver of the truck, who allegedly drove against traffic and rammed into the Lagos-bound bus, was said to have escaped immediately after the incident. But the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, assured members of the public yesterday that the fleeing driver would soon be arrested. Adejobi said the police command was still investigating the matter, adding that no stone would be left unturned in apprehending the truck driver. He also listed the victims of the accident to include eight OOU students, three post-UTME students and the commercial bus driver.
According to the PPRO, the lone survivor is a student of the Chemistry Department at the OOU. “Investigation is still ongoing and we want to assure you that we will get the driver of the truck. The police have the capacity to do that,” Adejobi told Sunday Telegraph in a telephone interview. Our correspondent learnt that some of the relatives of the victims yesterday stormed the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu in a desperate search for the bodies of the students.
A senior staff of the hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that the remains of the victims were not deposited at the hospital morgue. He said the OOUTH authorities directed the grieving relatives to comb private morgues within the town. He noted that information at his disposal indicated that some bodies of the accident victims were deposited at Fakoya Hospital mortuary. It was learnt that the Head of Students Affairs of OOU, Professor Lekan Arikewuyo, and the university’s Chief Security Officer, Mr. Rasheed Adekunle, also led a team to search private morgues in the area for the bodies.
Meanwhile, eminent businessman and former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has sympathised with the management, staff and students of the university over the tragic loss of the students.
According to the former governor, the accident could have been prevented if the truck driver had obeyed traffic rules. In a condolence message signed by his Special Adviser, Kunle Oyewumi, and made available to the media yesterday, Kalu said, “I was shocked and devastated when I heard the news of the demise of students of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago- Iwoye who were involved in a ghastly motor accident along Sagamu-Benin expressway. “It is disheartening to lose the leaders of tomorrow in such a circumstance. It is sad that the students died in their prime at a time the country needs the younger generation to contribute their knowledge towards the growth of the society.
“In this period of grief, our thoughts and prayers are with those that lost their loved ones in the unfortunate accident.” The business mogul used the opportunity to caution motorists on reckless driving, advising that strict compliance to traffic laws will minimise road accidents. He, however, urged the Federal Road Safety Commission and other stakeholders to sensitise the general public on traffic rules, adding that motorists flouting road traffic regulations with impunity should not go unpunished.
Kalu while commiserating with families of the departed souls, government of Ogun State and students of the institution prayed God to grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses. He also prayed to God to grant the deceased persons eternal rest.
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