Three persons have been killed, while 13 others sustained varying degrees of injuries in a lone accident which occurred in the late hours of Sunday along the Abeokuta-Sagamu Expressway.
The accident, which happened at the notorious Onipepeiye village in the Obafemi-Owode local government area of Ogun State, involved an Abeokuta-bound Mazda passenger bus marked: APP 297 YC, conveying 18 passengers and the driver.
An eyewitness, who simply identified himself as Ade, who was also a passenger in the ill-fated bus, explained that the deceased, as well as other injured victims were members of the congregation that partook in the just-concluded 70th Convention of the Redeemed Christian Church Church of God (RCCG) held at the Redemption Camp located at Mowe, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, who confirmed the accident on Monday, explained that the bus summersaulted several times before falling on one of its side after losing one of its rear tyres.
Akinbiyi, who attributed cause of the lone crash to excessive speeding on the part of the bus’ driver, also stated that the driver of the bus, who had earlier ignored the passengers’ repeated caution against his excessive speeding, later lost “one of the rear tyres as it busted and the bus somersaulted, falling on its side”.
“Investigation confirmed that the bus was coming from Redemption Camp and passengers were among the congregation who were part of the just-concluded 70th Convention tagged Perfect Jubilee,” the TRACE spokesman added.
Disclosing that remains of the deceased victims have been deposited at the morgue of the State Hospital in Ijaiye, Abeokuta, Akinbiyi further said that the 13 other injured victims were rescued to the same hospital, as well as the Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Idi-Aba, Abeokuta for medical treatment.
