In the past few weeks, the internet has been inundated with offensive photographs of an accident scene where a driver allegedly crushed to death 19 robbery victims at the Obalende area of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State.

Fresh details have, however, emerged on the incident, as the man who drove his truck over the robbery victims has cleared the air.
The incident, according to him, happened on July 31 2009. And contrary to the general belief that the driver of the ill-fated luxury bus was ordered to run over his passengers by the bandits, the man whose vehicle crushed the robbers was actually the driver of a truck.

The Edo State born driver spoke with Daily Sun at the police headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja at the weekend. He said he ran over the passengers thinking they were barricades put on the highway by armed robbers. Giving a graphic account on how the 19 robbery victims met their gruesome death, Osayande Idahosa, 40, said he was driving a Seaner Truck with registration number XN 808 BEN on July 31 last year from Benin en route Lagos.

According to him, he was in company with his conductor, Lucky, and the woman who hired him for the trip. The woman, he said, was going to supply some bags of garri.
Idahosa said he encountered a huge traffic jam at Ore but said he decided to continue the journey because of the nature of the goods in the truck.

He said he noticed that there were no other vehicles on the road until he sighted the headlights of some vehicles at Obalende area of Ijebu-Ode. “When I saw the lights, I was happy. I did not know that it was an evil light that will continue to haunt me till eternity,” he said.
Idahosa said immediately he approached the vehicle, he sighted some barricades that looked like logs of wood on the highway. “I thought it was a police check-point, so I slowed down. But I started hearing gun shots. I saw many people firing at me. Out of panic, I decided to run over what I assumed were logs of woods.

“As my truck ran over the ‘barricades’, I noticed that they were too soft. I also heard gun shots and agonizing cries of people. I suspected that I must have killed some people but I did not know who my victims were. I couldn’t control the vehicle and it ran into the bush. I immediately jumped down and took to my heels. “While in the bush, I saw about 20 armed men in civilian clothes searching for me. They were boasting that they would soon fish me out and slaughter me in pieces. At this time, I did not know the fate of my conductor or that of the woman who hired me.”

He explained that while the armed men where searching his vehicle, he ran deeper into the bush where he found a hole in which he hid. The incident, he said, occurred about 9.45p.m. He said he continued hiding in the bush till six the following morning, August 1. Idahosa further said that in the morning, he started hearing the sound of siren and he saw some of the robbers fleeing the scene. When he suspected that the robbers were all gone, he now traced his way to the highway, he explained.

According to him, when he got to the road, he saw another driver who told him that those he ran over were actually human beings. Idahosa was reportedly advised not to venture near the scene as he would definitely be lynched by the angry mob who were still in shock at the huge number of corpses that littered the road. His driver friend, he said, dropped him off at Ijebu-Ode junction where he picked a commercial motorcycle to the Obalende police station and surrendered himself to the policemen on duty. The cops reportedly took his statement and advised him to go back to the scene as the Commissioner of Police, the Divisional Police Officer and other senior policemen were there for an on the spot assessment.

Idahosa said when he got to the scene and sighted the havoc committed by him, he bent down and wept. He then allegedly surrendered himself to the mob who were walling uncontrollably. “But rather than stoning me to death, they all started listening to my story on how I unintentionally killed innocent robbery victims who I mistook to be robbers’ barricades. The sympathizers started consoling me, telling me it was not my fault. The policemen took me along with them and I was with them for four days before I was granted bail.”

He revealed that for the next one month, he couldn’t stand the sight of meat. “Right now, I won’t engage in a night journey anywhere. The pain is too much for me to bear. My wife is devastated. You can’t imagine the agony I go through everyday when I remember how I crushed 19 innocent people to death. But I trust that God will forgive me because I did not know that they were human beings.”
Driver of the robbed Young Shall Grow luxury bus with registration number XF 285 AKD, Okechukwu Okafor, blamed the tragedy on the bad condition of the road.

He revealed that, on the fateful day, he was on a morning trip from Enugu en route Lagos. The journey, he recalled, was smooth until 3.00p.m when he met a traffic gridlock at Ore. He said he was in the traffic for over four hours. In his words, on reaching a point between the Federal Government College, Odogbolu and Babcock University junction along the Ijebu-Ode/Shagamu Expressway, the luxury bus was forcefully stopped by a gang of armed robbers numbering about 50.

According to him, when he saw the intimidating number of the bandits, he jumped out of his bus and took to his heels. He revealed that while in the bush, he was hearing gun shots and wailing of people in agony. “I thought it was the robbery gang that was killing my passengers. It was not until the following morning when I found my way out of the bush that I learnt that it was a truck driver who refused to stop for the robbers that ran over my passengers.”

Okafor said he wept when he was confronted with the crushed bodies of the passengers. “You know, right from the park at Enugu down to the scene of the ugly incident, we had all become friendly. In fact, in my 22 years of driving, I had not seen or heard such a story that looked like a fairy tale.”
Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the incident happened on July 31, 2009.

“Following some offensive photographs being posted on the internet by some mischievous people who made the incident looked like it happened recently, the force would like to inform the public that the ugly accident happened on July 31, 2009,” he said.
He said 19 passengers of the luxury bus, including six females and 13 males, were crushed to death by the truck.

He explained that the file in respect of the case has been duplicated and forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.

This is utter purgamentum, i am indeed very sadden by this act of incuriosus by the Government.
Yes! an act of Government delinquency towards the provision of Basic infrastructure for the Nigeria people.
The Presence of street lights in our highways would have averted and debared the allopatry of this lamentable event, This ploratus event, an event that has put the Nigeria people in a state of discombobulation.


May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

kosovo:

This is utter purgamentum, i am indeed very sadden by this act of incuriosus by the Government.
Yes! an act of Government delinquency towards the provision of Basic infrastructure for the Nigeria people.
The Presence of street lights in our highways would have averted and debared the allopatry of this lamentable event, This ploratus event, an event that has put the Nigeria people in a state of discombobulation.
May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

wow

kosovo:

This is utter purgamentum, i am indeed very sadden by this act of incuriosus by the Government.
Yes! an act of Government delinquency towards the provision of Basic infrastructure for the Nigeria people.
The Presence of street lights in our highways would have averted and debared the allopatry of this lamentable event, This ploratus event, an event that has put the Nigeria people in a state of discombobulation.


May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

Another moronic and idiotic post brought to you by Kosovo.


This message is sponsored by ElRazur inc.

How a driver thinks humans are barricades on the road is beyond me? At what speed was he travelling in a TRUCK? If he clearly do not see that things he crushed over are humans, his eye sight should be tested and at best, he should not be driving at all.

@kosovo: are u Hon. Patrick?

ElRazur:

Another moronic and idiotic post brought to you by Kosovo.


This message is sponsored by ElRazur inc.

Does your constant bashing make you sleep at night?

kosovo:

This is utter purgamentum, i am indeed very sadden by this act of incuriosus by the Government.
Yes! an act of Government delinquency towards the provision of Basic infrastructure for the Nigeria people.
The Presence of street lights in our highways would have averted and debared the allopatry of this lamentable event, This ploratus event, an event that has put the Nigeria people in a state of discombobulation.


May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

ElRazur:

Another moronic and idiotic post brought to you by Kosovo.


This message is sponsored by ElRazur inc.

lol you guys are both idiots. of the first water lol

It is a pity, why are they even saying is not recent. Whether recent or not the fact remains that incedent like that really happend.

There is no security i this country.

@elrazur

i am not in support of the truck driver but i have driven that same road in the nite by 3am , the road is so dark and foggy that u cant see 1m in front of u.

it is possible he might have come to wrong conclusions but when u have AK47 firing at you maybe your own judgement may not be skewed

the problem is the government that have refused to do what is right, fix the damn roads.

this is very sad

but alas it makes sense

the original story was baffling

why people will lay on the road while a car runs over them!

I pray God consoles his heart- imagine how the man will be feelin after seein the dead bodies!

its a good thing th epictures are circulating the internet- let it be known how useless the nigerian government is!!

Please what happened to the driver's conductor ie the woman who hired him to transport her garri?? No one seems to wonder how/if she escaped.

kosovo:

This is utter purgamentum, i am indeed very sadden by this act of incuriosus by the Government.
Yes! an act of Government delinquency towards the provision of Basic infrastructure for the Nigeria people.
The Presence of street lights in our highways would have averted and debared the allopatry of this lamentable event, This ploratus event, an event that has put the Nigeria people in a state of discombobulation.

After all this latin gibberish wey you dey speak for here, you no fit apply simple tenses correctly.

You are indeed very sadden abi na sadden[i]ed[/i]?

You also cannot debar an event from occuring.

Street lights are on our highways, not in our highways. Are you from Ajegunle? You sound like an educated illiterate! 


The structure and flair of your language is more important than the big grammar you dey knack for here!

Nigeria is a home of liars.
Everybody lie and lie and lie to cover up their ineptitude.
There is no extent Nigerians can't go to cover up.
This is another cooked up story by the police.

ziddy:


lol you guys are both idiots. of the first water lol

No, he is the one who makes a yeye post. I merely called him out on it like a few people have pointed out.

kosovo:

  Does your constant bashing make you sleep at night?

I keep telling you, no one likes a faker.

Ibime:

After all this latin gibberish wey you dey speak for here, you no fit apply simple tenses correctly.

You are indeed very sadden abi na sadden[i]ed[/i]?

You also cannot debar an event from occuring.

Street lights are on our highways, not in our highways. Are you from Ajegunle? You sound like an educated illiterate! 


The structure and flair of your language is more important than the big grammar you dey knack for here!

Lol. At least, he should get the basics right first. Nah wah o.

kaecy5:

@elrazur

i am not in support of the truck driver but i have driven that same road in the nite by 3am , the road is so dark and foggy that u cant see 1m in front of u.

it is possible he might have come to wrong conclusions but when u have AK47 firing at you maybe your own judgement may not be skewed

the problem is the government that have refused to do what is right, fix the damn roads.

I understand your view point. But, I still think his eyesight should be tested. You will be surprised at how many unfit drivers we have on our roads. It is easier to blame the government, but sometimes let people take responsibility once in a while.

ElRazur:


I understand your view point. But, I still think his eyesight should be tested. You will be surprised at how many unfit drivers we have on our roads. It is easier to blame the government, but sometimes let people take responsibility once in a while.

I'm pretty sure in that situation you'd be far more interested in scanning the surrounding bushes for gunmen instead of reviewing what looked like small logs at first glance.

There's a reason why we have street lights on our expressways. Your vehicle lights won't always show the clear picture.

texazzpete:

I'm pretty sure in that situation you'd be far more interested in scanning the surrounding bushes for gunmen instead of reviewing what looked like small logs at first glance.

There's a reason why we have street lights on our expressways. Your vehicle lights won't always show the clear picture.

Actually, that is a wrong assumption. When ever one is driving, one is meant to be AWARE all the time. Once is meant to be aware of potential risk and protective decision before it is too late. His failure to do so have cost the lives of others.

Also, at what speed is he travelling in a truck? Surely, when it is dark or when there is less visibility, one is meant to drive slower than usual and obey all road traffic signs? No?


The fact that we do not have light is not an excuse. Not all the roads in the UK are lighted, M11 and M3 will be a good example.

kosovo:

This is utter purgamentum, i am indeed very sadden by this act of incuriosus by the Government.
Yes! an act of Government delinquency towards the provision of Basic infrastructure for the Nigeria people.
The Presence of street lights in our highways would have averted and debared the allopatry of this lamentable event, This ploratus event, an event that has put the Nigeria people in a state of discombobulation.


May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

Off topic

Please translate - Please advise if mods get awards for use of ambiguous grammar - utter nonsense


back to topic

What a very sad event -

Ibime:

After all this latin gibberish wey you dey speak for here, you no fit apply simple tenses correctly.

You are indeed very sadden abi na sadden[i]ed[/i]?

You also cannot debar an event from occuring.

Street lights are on our highways, not in our highways. Are you from Ajegunle? You sound like an educated illiterate! 


The structure and flair of your language is more important than the big grammar you dey knack for here!

Bwahahahahaha

Actually, that is a wrong assumption. When ever one is driving, one is meant to be AWARE all the time. Once is meant to be aware of potential risk and protective decision before it is too late. His failure to do so have cost the lives of others.

Also, at what speed is he travelling in a truck? Surely, when it is dark or when there is less visibility, one is meant to drive slower than usual and obey all road traffic signs? No?


The fact that we do not have light is not an excuse. Not all the roads in the UK are lighted, M11 and M3 will be a good example.

what a load of crap!

it is clear you have not been to Nigeria for a while or never use section of the road road.

At 9.30pm, it is already very dark. When you now hear gun shots around you, you do two things:

Increase your speed, hoping to make it alive Or run you car into the Bush and escape for your life.

That area of high-way is close to towns and in normal country there will be some form high-way light around the place.

The blame goes straight to Mr Obasanjo and Anennih.

Annenih  spent N300billion and could not refix this road as Minister of Works.

Mr Obasanjo spent $10billion and we still have darkness in Nigeria.

How come picture and info never got out until now?

And the biggest lesson for all: Only travel in Nigerian between the hours of 7am - 7pm.

Very sad, indeed.

I think there is more to this story than we ave made to wanna believe . . . .too much gray areas

Fhemmmy:

I think there is more to this story than we ave made to wanna believe . . . .too much gray areas

Can you shed more light to this?

otawa:

what a load of crap!

it is clear you have not been to Nigeria for a while or never use section of the road road.

At 9.30pm, it is already very dark. When you now hear gun shots around you, you do two things:

Increase your speed, hoping to make it alive Or run you car into the Bush and escape for your life.

That area of high-way is close to towns and in normal country there will be some form high-way light around the place.

The blame goes straight to Mr Obasanjo and Anennih.

Annenih  spent N300billion and could not refix this road as Minister of Works.

Mr Obasanjo spent $10billion and we still have darkness in Nigeria.

How come picture and info never got out until now?

And the biggest lesson for all: Only travel in Nigerian between the hours of 7am - 7pm.

Very sad, indeed.

Really? Yeah let us blame the government for EVERYTHING. Let no citizen take responsibility for their actions. People steal, people sh.it, people kidnap, people die everything nah the fault of the government. Keep that stance, I dey sure he go solve your problems well well my friend.

ElRazur:

Really? Yeah let us blame the government for EVERYTHING. Let no citizen take responsibility for their actions. People steal, people sh.it, people kidnap, people die everything nah the fault of the government. Keep that stance, I dey sure he go solve your problems well well my friend.

Lol . . . . Till we Nigerian start taking responsibility for our actions, we are far away from the good days.

ElRazur:

Really? Yeah let us blame the government for EVERYTHING. Let no citizen take responsibility for their actions. People steal, people sh.it, people kidnap, people die everything nah the fault of the government. Keep that stance, I dey sure he go solve your problems well well my friend.

Fhemmmy:

Lol . . . . Till we Nigerian start taking responsibility for our actions, we are far away from the good days.

The problem is that the nigerian govt never gives a benefit of the doubt on an situation which is the fifference btw wetern governments and african cum nigerian governments.

maboola:

Nigeria is a home of liars.
Everybody lie and lie and lie to cover up their ineptitude.
There is no extent Nigerians can't go to cover up.
This is another cooked up story by the police.

I agree with the bolded.


same thing happens when someone dies and then you see one mental case "confessing" to the crime, saying they flew in the air as witches or some other such story.



all in a bid to silence enquiring minds and end any official investigation.

this moderator does it on purpose, he's got the choice to use a more meaningful vocabs but chose to post in an ambiguous manner thinking that he's making a point but little does he know that he's just playing to the gallery.

@post

if this story happened since last year as alleged, why did it take this long to come to the limelight?

asha 80:

The problem is that the nigerian govt never gives a benefit of the doubt on an situation which is the fifference btw wetern governments and african come nigerian governments.

There is no doubt about it that the govt has done nothing to help and make Nigeria a better place.
But a man that runz over human beings thinking they are barricades, now we wanna blame the govt that, they should have had street lights? Do they have street light per kilometers on the highways in yankee, Canada, and in europe? Most of the street light are always around settlements.
I bet you almost anything that the man either have a bad headlight or have none or even turn it off while he is driving at night on the highway . . . so now tell me what the govt ought to have done in that case?

Igwe.:

this moderator does it on purpose, he's got the choice to use a more meaningful vocabs but chose to post in an ambiguous manner thinking that he's making a point but little does he know that he's just playing to the gallery.

@post

if this story happened since last year as alleged, why did it take this long to come to the limelight?

Cos the foreign govt are asking questions too and now they wanna find a way to shut everyone up.

asha 80:

The problem is that the nigerian govt never gives a benefit of the doubt on an situation which is the fifference btw wetern governments and african come nigerian governments.

I agree. However, we have to make use of what we have. In this instance, how someone ran over 17 people and gave some silly excuses, and then Otawa blaming the government is just beyond me.

We are a nation that is still developing and I appreciate that, however, we can't keep blaming the people in power for everything. How about we take responsibility?

For him to have run over 17 people and not see them, I am of the believe he was travelling at high speeds. If it is dark, he is meant to drive slow. And if he is worried he may be robbed. Here is a tip, drive in the bloody day light. But yeah in the logic of otawa, let us blame the damn government.

ElRazur:

I agree. However, we have to make use of what we have. In this instance, how someone ran over 17 people and then saw some silly excuse and then Otawa blaming the government is just beyond me.

We are a nation that is still developing, we can't keep blaming the people in power for everything. How about we take responsibility?

For him to have run over 17 people and not see them, I am of the believe he was travelling at high speeds. If it is dark, he is meant to drive slow. And if he is worried he may be robbed. Here is a tip, drive in the bloody day light. But yeah in the logic of otawa, let us blame the damn government.

I am sure with a good headlight and high beams, he would ave seen them all, that is if all this story is true