Tears, Grief as Families Bury 4 FGGC Pupils who died in Auto Crash in Oyo

By Sakin Babalola, Ibadan

It was a mournful and sorrowful scene when parents, relatives, teachers and colleagues gathered on Monday to bury four pupils of Federal Government Girls College Oyo, in Oyo state who lost their lives to a fatal motor accident which occurred on Owode Oyo road on Sunday.

Scene of the accident

Tears flew freely as the remains of the pupils were laid to their graves amidst uncontrollable tears from mourners.

The deceased are John Olubukola (SS3), Giwa Taibat (SS3), Ladipo Mojisola (SS1) and Ibirogba Maryam (JS3).

Their remains were buried at the public Muslim Cemetery and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) cemetery in Oyo.

The pupils died in an accident on FGGC Road at about 3:30 pm on Sunday. The accident occurred at a popular market in Sabo area, a distance of about one kilometre to the school.

It was gathered that a trailer loaded with garri fell on the minibus conveying the pupils to school, killing the driver along with the pupils.

While the four pupils died instantly, five others were lucky to escape with injury. They were said to be receiving treatment in private hospitals in the town.

The spokesman of the school, Mr Akin Olumide Omitade, said the pupils boarded the minibus from Owode, having arrived from different locations, with a parent accompanying one of them.

Omitade said the students were returning from mid-term break, with a mandate to resume to school before 6.00 p.m on Sunday, when the incident occurred.

According to him, the deceased students were trapped to the back seat of the bus, a situation which denied them access to rescue operation because people around could not get a towing vehicle to lift the truck on time.

Stating that the Owode road is usually made narrow by display of wares on both sides of the road by traders, Omitade called on the government to rehabilitate the road and that the market women should be made to vacate the road.

Speaking on the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Oyo Command, Mr Adekunle Ajisebutu, said: “A DAF truck loaded with garri fell on a Suzuki commercial mini-bus conveying students of the Federal Government College, Oyo.

“As a result, four of the students and the bus driver died while five others were injured and were taken to Peamark Hospital, Oyo for medical treatment. They are responding to treatment and Investigation has since commenced.”

Ajisebutu, a Superintendent of Police (SP), disclosed that the trailer driver had been arrested by the police for further investigation.

The spokesman of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state, Mr Oluwaseun Onijala, gave the registration number of the minibus as Oyo BDJ183 XA and the Mercedes trailer as Lagos 911, EPE139 XJ.

Onijala further said that the accident which occurred around 4.00 p.m, was a result of dangerous driving.