No fewer than 18 passengers and two drivers Saturday evening died in a ghastly auto crash on Iseyin – Moniya road in Iseyin town in Oyo state.
It was learnt that in the accident which involved two Mazda buses, all the passengers died at the scene of the auto crash said to be at kilometer 2 cattle market at Iseyin town.
According to an eye witness account, 9 of the victims of the accident were members of Baptist Church in Ibadan said to be traveling back to Ibadan from Saki after attending a ceremony.
The witness stressed that wife of the Church leader said to be involved in the accident is still in comma as at the time of sending having suffered broken legs and arms, and that the dead bodies of the nine have been deposited at Our Lady Hospital in Iseyin, while others were deposited at FADOK hospital, also in Iseyin
Eye witness account said the accident followed a head-on-collision between the two Mazda buses said to be traveling at top speed along a sharp bend at the Cattle market area in Iseyin.
Commenting on the accident, the Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdganiy Salawudeen Adekunle on Sunday pleaded with motorists plying the Ibadan- Iseyin route to value human lives and exercise patience during the ember months.
Also, Iseyin Development Union (I.D.U), in a statement on the auto crash urged the Oyo stategovernment to urgently put in place, speed breakers at locations like ‘Serafu’, kilometer 2 Cattle market and the Iseyin Muslim Burial ground junction along the Iseyin-Moniya road to dissuade motorists from over-speeding.
IDU in the statement signed by its National President, Alhaji Bayo Raji, said the speed breakers became imperative as many lives and properties have been lost to road carnage along the newly reconstructed 76 kilometers road.
Alhaji Raji pointed out that the areas mentioned have villages or markets where human and vehicular movements are always high as well as sharp bends need speed breakers to force motorists into reducing their speed.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Oyo state FRSC Sector Commander failed as she is yet to respond to the Text and WhatsApp messages sent to her by our Correspondent.
However, a source at the FRSC said the command is yet to collate its report on the accident as there was no FRSC office in the area.