Vehicles crush mother, three children, technician

Tragedies struck in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State and Akure, the Ondo State capital. In Bayelsa State, a Toyota Highlander killed a woman and her three children on the East-West Road while a father of four was crushed in Akure. A female passenger of the Toyota Highlander also died in the accident.

It was learnt that the incident, which occurred about 3.40pm on Saturday, shocked traders at the popular Adagbabiri Junction on the East- West Road. The driver of the car, identified as Meeting Okpekpe Mayor, was reported to have lost control of the vehicle and ran into the midst of the traders. A witness, Kelvin, told our correspondent that the woman was having lunch with her children when the vehicle ran into their kiosk and crushed them. He said: “The woman and her four children were eating when the incident occurred.

The woman and three children have been confirmed dead, while one is still battling for life.” The woman is identified as Ruth while the names of her children are given as Favour (nine), Godsgift (five) and Oghenerho (one). The only surviving child, who is in a critical condition at Oghara Hospital, is called T-Girl. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Astimin Buswat, who confirmed the development, said the vehicle with registration number YEN 726 RG, was coming from the Patani end of the East-West Road when it ran into the shops. In the Ondo State incident, the victim, Sunday Oladokun, was crushed by a tanker at the Olu Foam axis of Ilesa-Owo Expressway in Akure.

The death of Oladokun, an auto-technician, came barely a week after the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) protested against the incessant deaths of people on the highway by truck and trailer drivers. However, Oladokun’s family demanded justice and asked the law enforcement agents not to allow the matter be swept under the carpet.

The family accused security agents of trying to pervert justice. The 40-year-old mechanic was killed after closing about 7:30pm at the weekend a few metres from his house. Oladokun, popularly called ‘Sunday Rewire,’ however, had no inkling that death was lurking around as he drove home in his old model blue Datsun Passat he bought less than two months ago. A witness, Mr Ayomide Akingbade, said he and another friend had barely unsuccessful waved the late Oladokun for the usual free ride home, when the tanker driver made a “reckless overtaking” and headed straight for the late ‘rewire’.

Akingbade said though Oladokun tried to dodge, the trailer still crushed him. Oladokun’s sibling, Seun, accused the police and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) of trying to pervert justice in favour of the telecommunication firm which owned the trailer. But in his reaction, the state Police Commissioner, Issac Eke, said it was too early to conclude who was at fault since it was a case of fatal accident. He, however, promised that anyone found culpable would be brought to book.