Truck kills WASSCE candidate in Ogun

Tragedy struck on Friday in the Ikangba area of Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, when a truck reportedly lost control and rammed into students of Seico Secondary School, killing a female student said to be sitting for the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination, and critically injuring another.

The incident occurred along the newly rehabilitated Ikangba/Agoro Road as the students were returning home after finishing their examination for the day.

A resident of the area, Mr Eko Nicholas, who spoke with Saturday PUNCH, said the truck, which was coming from the Molipa end of the road, suddenly veered off its lane, hitting the students before crashing into the fence of a nearby Redeemed Christian Church of God parish.

“Nobody knows what exactly caused the truck to veer off the road, but it ran into the students coming from the opposite direction. The truck eventually crashed into the fence of a Redeemed church beside the road,” Nicholas said.

“The students were clearly WASSCE candidates as they were holding their question papers. One of them, a female student, died on the spot, while another female was critically injured. We are all praying for her survival,” he added.

Nicholas, who is the Chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR), lamented the increasing number of accidents on the road since it was rehabilitated.

He blamed the recurring accidents on the government’s failure to install speed breakers or road bumps that would help control speeding and reckless driving in the area.

This is yet another needless death on the Ikangba/Agoro Road,” he said. “Since February, we have lost six lives to accidents on this road, not to mention the many others who have been injured.”

“We once again call on the state government to urgently install speed breakers and streetlights along this road to prevent further tragedies. Several schools are located along this stretch, and schoolchildren walk to and from school daily.”

Nicholas said the CDWR had previously written to the government on the issue but received no response.

Confirming the incident to Saturday PUNCH, the Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, said TRACE officers in the area had reported the fatal accident.

“Yes, the incident has been confirmed. One school pupil died in the crash,” Akinbiyi said in a telephone interview.