OLUFEMI ATOYEBI, who visited the
scene where four pupils of the Federal
Government Girls College, Oyo died
on Sunday, writes on sour mood of
the school community
The road leading to the Federal
Government Girls College, Oyo from
the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba
Lamidi Adeyemi, is in a deplorable
state. This is the road of death that led
to the demise of four pupils of the
school on Sunday.
They were returning to the school
after a mid-term break when the bus
they had boarded from Owode area
of Oyo was involved in a fatal accident
at Sabo market, Isale-Oyo, a few
kilometres away from the school.
There were nine pupils, a parent and
the driver in the bus when the
accident happened.
Olubukola John, SS3; Taibat Giwa SS3;
Mojisola Ladipo, SS1; and Mariam
Ibirogba JSS 3; and the bus driver
died in the accident while five SS3
pupils; Boluwatife Oyega, Hiba
Hamzat, Mariam Olakekan, Tawakalitu
Adewale and Feyi Akinola survived
with varying degrees of injuries.

Our correspondent who visited the
school observed that the drainage
system on both sides of the single
carriage way leading to Isale-Oyo had
completely collapsed and erosion had
eaten deep into the road. At night, it is
easy for a first time passerby to run
into the ditch below the gaping pot-
holes that are common features on
the road.
The road leading to the FGGC passes
through a busy Sabo Market where
the accident occurred. The road is
narrow and almost impassable. It can
best be described as a death trap. Yet,
this is the road that leads to a major
school where thousands of Nigerian
girls are moulded into adulthood. It
was the first time that the school had
recorded such tragedy but indeed, it
was a calamity waiting to happen.
There are varying accounts of how the
accident happened, but parents who
witnessed the incident gave a
common account, blaming
government for neglecting the road,
and the driver of the truck that fell on
the bus conveying the children, for
being greedy.
One of the parents, Amos Ishola, who
spoke on behalf of the Parents
Teachers Association, said he would
have died before the girls arrived at
the scene that consumed them.
“I am the luckiest survivor of the
accident because today, people would
have been mourning my passage if I
had moved a foot further when I
approached the market.
“I left Ibadan on Sunday and decided
to drive my daughter back to school
immediately after church service. I left
with a church member and her
daughter. When we got to the market
in Isale-Oyo, the woman in my car
begged me to stop for her to buy
some household needs for her
daughter, so I parked beside the
road. The bus carrying the girls was
directly behind me but when I parked,
it overtook me and stopped in front of
me because of the oncoming truck.
“The door of the bus was not locked
so I saw some of the pupils who knew
me and they greeted me. One of them
was Hiba Hamzat who also survived.
She sat at the back of the bus.
“The truck was trying to manoeuvre its
way along the bad and narrow road.
Suddenly, the container strapped to
the back of the truck gave way
because of the over-load and fell on
the bus conveying the pupils. It took a
long time to offload the truck while
the children were trapped under it.
“They had to use chain to lift the truck
off the bus. When I saw the truck
falling, I thought all the occupants of
the bus were dead. It was a terrible
and gory scene and I am yet to come
out of the trauma. If I close, my eyes,
the scene reappears like a dream.”
Ishola said many sympathisers came
to rescue the girls and that the
incident was clearly avoidable.
“As parents, our hearts are heavy and
seriously bleeding. These were pupils
preparing for final examinations.
‘Development has consumed the
market’ When it started, it was sited
away from the city but development
has caught up with it.
Ishola said, “It is a shame that one
has to pass through a disorganised
market and completely bad road to a
school as popular as FGGC. When you
hear the name of the school and you
decide to visit, you will be
disappointed with the road leading to
it. Government should address this. If
the market cannot be moved, the
school should be linked to the federal
highway that is being constructed so
that those going to the school can
have smooth ride free of dangers of
Isale Oyo market road.
“For the sake of the future and the
children, government should act
appropriately to address this issue. I
heard that they quickly poured sound
to block the pot holes that caused the
death of the children after the
accident. It is a shame that we always
have to wait for tragedy to happen
before we act.”
Mrs. Oluwakemi Awolola has a
daughter in the school. On the day
that the five pupils died in the
accident, she was on a commercial
motorcycle at the scene and she was
the first to alert the school to the
tragedy. From her account, she and
her daughter would have been
victims.
She said, “My daughter attends this
school and two of my siblings also
attended the school. It was traumatic
that I witnessed the accident leading
to the death of these girls.
“I was taking my daughter back to
school on the day of the accident.
When we got to Sabo Market, I
noticed that there was a long queue
of vehicles, so I asked the rider of the
commercial motorcycle I boarded to
manoeuvre his way so that we could
move on. The over-loaded truck
carrying the food stuff was in front of
us. As soon as we passed, the
incident happened. I saw the whole
incident when it happened. I
immediately called my daughter’s
guardian in the school to report what
had happened.”
Despite the true account of the
accident from parents who saw it all,
rumour spread that the children were
sent out of the school to go and plait
their hair after returning from the
mid-term break.
Awolola defended the school.
According to her, her daughter and
her siblings had never complained of
being sent out to plait their hair.
“It is a lie that the school asked the
girls to go and plait their hair when
the accident happened. It is a rumour
or fabrication of some people who
were bent on spreading falsehood.
The children were actually coming
from home to resume after the mid-
term break. That was why most of the
luggage found in the wreckage of the
vehicle they boarded contained
personal effects and beverages,” she
explained.
A member of staff of the school, who
said he was not authorised to speak
on behalf of the management, also
dismissed the rumour. He gave
reason for buying the four victims
were buried in Oyo instead of taking
their corpses back to their homes.
“We decided to bury the dead in Oyo
because their parents agreed to the
decision. When the incident
happened, we quickly rushed to the
scene to ascertain the situation as
regards the condition of the girls. The
survivors were able to tell us the
names of those that died.”
Having got the names of the victims,
the staff said the school contacted the
parents through the files of the
deceased and the survivors. He said
one of the parents, Mr. John, who is a
policeman, came from Ibadan on the
day of the accident after he was
contacted.
“He was traumatised and in obviously
bad physical shape. He wept
uncontrollably over the death of his
daughter who was preparing to sit the
West Africa Senior School Certificate
Examination like others. Another
parent who lost a JSS3 pupil also
rushed to Oyo from Ibadan. Like Mr
John, it was difficult to console him.
We had to ask a staff member to
assist by driving him back to Ibadan
because considering his state of mind,
we could not allow him to drive
himself back.
“Relations and friends of those
involved in the accident trooped to
the school on Monday and it was a
day to forget quickly. Tears flowed as
the school mourned the deceased.”
Our correspondent learnt that one of
the dead pupils, Tayyibat Giwa, was a
daughter of a former staff of the
school that had been transferred to
Federal School of Science, Technical,
in Ilesa. Traumatised by the incident,
she was unable to attend the burial
but some of her relations came.
The staff stated further that the
Muslim community in Isale-Oyo and
Oyo chapter of the Christian
Association of Nigeria supported the
school during the burial.
“During the burial, we insisted that the
relations of the deceased be present.
The Muslim community in Isale Oyo
assisted the school while the Christ
Apostolic Church, Oyo, with
permission from the Oyo chapter of
the Christian Association of Nigeria,
conducted prayers for the Christians
among the deceased.”
Asked what the state of medical facility




http://www.punchng.com/deceased-oyo-fgc-girls-survived-rescued-time-eyewitness/


Cc: lalasticlala, Seun
Justwise, DisGuy