18 lives lost in one week due to road crashes in Oyo

The main trunk A road in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, needs to be dualized, according to requests made by the locals and the federal government.

Speaking over the weekend, the locals stated that this was required to prevent frequent accidents on the road.

About eighteen people were reported to have died in various traffic accidents in the region in the course of a week at the time of the last tally.

Many others also suffered injuries that may have killed them.

Ogbomoso is connected to other cities in the country’s north and south via this road.

It is situated between Aroje, Sabo, Agric, Arinkinkin High School, Takie, and Caretaker. It’s a lengthy road—roughly seven or eight km.

Three Oriire Local Government Area traditional rulers were among the people who perished in the accidents. Olodogbo of Odogbo, Onibowula of Bowula, and Alayetoro of Ayetoro were among the deceased.

They were in route to the wake for the mother of a brother of Oloolo of Oolo Oba Oyebunmi Ajayi, one of the zone’s traditional rulers.

Additionally, three motorbike riders are said to have died near the road in the Emaayo region.

Sadly, at around 3:30 am on Saturday, nine people in Sekona village are said to have been burned beyond recognition when a fuel tanker fell, spilling its contents and caught fire, scorching the nine people.

Additionally, a commercial biker and his passenger are said to have had their legs crushed by a caravan on Saturday morning near the Caretaker/Ijeru Baptist Basic School area.

A heavily-laden logging truck/timber lorry was reported to have lost control as it down the Sekoni slope towards Takie Square later that Saturday afternoon.

According to reports, the collision claimed the life of a commercial motorbike rider.

Residents of the city have petitioned the governments to dualize the road, outraged by these numerous deaths.

Additionally, the locals pushed the governments to build flyover bridges at key locations like Takie Square and Caretaker Junction.

Speaking on Saturday, Mr. Idowu Ashifa pleaded with the state government to assist them.

“We need help, thus I’m pleading with Governor Seyi Makinde to dualize this route from Agric (Farm Settlement Scheme) to Aroje or Igbon.

Three traditional rulers lost their lives on the road just yesterday. Two more today and one more in the Emaayo area are the ones I’ve heard about. Head-on collisions will decrease if the route is dualized, he claimed.

Michael Adegbosin, a different resident, stated the following:

The government should build a dual-carriageway to prevent head-on collisions and to provide cars more space to manoeuvre in an emergency. This will help to minimise the number of traffic accidents.

“Once the federal government completes the dual carriageway linking Ibadan to Ilorin through Oyo and Ogbomoso, the road should also be returned to the Oyo State government for easy maintenance.”

Another homeowner, who pleaded anonymity, advocated for the installation of flyovers in a few key places.

It is my belief that the construction of a flyover at Takie could have prevented this particular incident.

Because of the Takie Roundabout’s disaster history, building a flyover there will be a wise move. We implore Governor Makinde to build an overhead bridge at this heavily trafficked location.

“After all, he had promised to erect one at Ogunlola Hall, Oja’gbo. That was during his first term, when Ogbomoso gave him very few votes; nevertheless, during this second term, we gave him a sizable majority of the ballots.

Let him assist us in dualizing the road and completing the flyover that was promised. Furthermore, a flyover is needed at the Caretaker crossroads.