Twenty persons were confirmed dead in separate auto crashes in Ogun and Jigawa states.
It was gathered that while five persons died in the Ogun crash on Sunday, 15 persons were killed in the Jigawa crash on Saturday.
In Ogun, apart from the five dead victims, 13 others were said to have sustained injuries after a commercial bus en route from Ibadan, Oyo State, to Lagos State veered off the road and rammed into a stationary truck.
Those who died in the accident were said to be three adult males, a female and a boy.
It was gathered that the accident occurred around 9am in the WAZOBIA area of Ogere on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The Ogun State Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Clement Oladele, said the vehicles involved were a white Mazda passenger bus with number plate, DDA 121 XA, and a red MAN Diesel truck marked, MGD 129 ZF.
He said, “The accident was caused by dangerous driving and speed violation by the driver of the commercial bus, who was travelling from Ibadan to Lagos.
“The driver lost control of the vehicle and eventually ran into the truck parked by the roadside.”
Oladele said the driver of the commercial bus fled immediately the incident happened.
He added that a manhunt had been launched to apprehend him and charge him with dangerous driving, which led to the death of some of his passengers.
Oladele said the injured victims had been taken to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, and Victory Hospital, Ogere, while the corpses of the dead passengers had been taken to a mortuary in Ipara.
In Jigawa, no fewer than 15 persons died in the accident that involved a Volkswagen Sharon bus and a truck on Gujungu-Gumel Road in the Kaugama Local Government Area.
It was gathered that the bus was heading for a town in the Daura LGA of Katsina State.
The spokesman for the state police command, SP Abdu Jinjiri, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday that the accident occurred on Saturday around 7.30pm.
Jinjiri said the Volkswagen Sharon, which was supposed to carry seven passengers, was overloaded with 14 people.
“A seven-passenger capacity vehicle, overloaded with 14 passengers, rammed into a truck coming from the opposite direction on Gujungu-Gumel Road.
“As a result, nine of the passengers died on the spot, while the rest were rushed to Gumel General Hospital, in the Gumel LGA, where they later died.
“In all, nine adult males, including the driver of the Sharon bus, four adult females and two children died in the accident.
“It was possible the driver of the overloaded vehicle was speeding and could not control the vehicle. However, investigation will reveal the real cause of the accident,” Jinjiri said.
He said the driver of the truck, aged 22, was in the police custody as investigation was ongoing.
The Federal Road Safety Corps Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, also confirmed the crash.
He said, “The car which, was overloaded, was said to be returning from the Gwaram Local Government Area and heading for a village in the Gwiwa Local Government Area, when it ran into the truck.
“Eight males, four females and three male children died while one adult was injured.”
It was gathered that the dead victims had been buried in accordance with Islamic rites.
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )