By Boluwaji Obahopo, Lokoja

Are the drivers in the convoy of Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State reckless or fate simply played a cruel joke on the governor to give him negative publicity? Four fatal crashes involving Wada’s convoy in 11 months make this question apt. Death toll from the incidents is five. This is inspite of the sacking of four Kogi Government House drivers on the orders of Governor Wada just so discipline can be instilled. Interestingly, Wada’s convoy is described as a crawling-convoy because of the slow speed of between 60kmph and 80kmph that he has ordered as limit.

But fate must indeed be cruel, very cruel, to Governor Wada.

On December 27, 2012, while many people were still in Christmas mood, the convoy of Wada was involved in an accident.  The governor’s official car was worst hit in that accident which occurred as he was returning from a programme in Anyigba and left him fatally injured.  The latest accident of last Tuesday involving Wada’s convoy and a bus belonging to the University of Benin (UNIBEN) chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) killed a former president of the union, Professor Festus Iyayi, injured two other officials of ASUU and the bus driver.

*Late Iyayi

The accident occurred on Lokoja-Abuja Road as the ASUU leaders made their way to Kano for the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union.  For Iyayi, it was death at the edge of victory as the NEC meeting had been called to consider government proposals on their demands that have led to a four-month old strike.  The proposals were some kind of triumph for ASUU to redress poor universities funding, and there were prospects the strike would have b
een shelved at that meeting.  Now Iyayi’s death has put the ASUU NEC meeting on hold.

Lesson

When the December 2012 involving Wada’s convoy happened, it set tongues wagging. Many people gave it spiritual undertone.  They cited what they alleged as the governor’s interference in the Ohimege stool of Kotorkafe and that of the Attah of Igala.

Those in this school of thought alleged that the governor had unduly interfered with the traditional institution and the accident was to teach him a lesson. Ridiculous as it sounded, some even argued that it was only Wada’s official vehicle-purchased about a month earlier–that was involved in the accident to buttress their claim.

The accident claimed the life of the governor’s ADC, Idris Muhammed, while the driver sustained serious injuries and Wada himself was  admitted at the State Specialist Hospital before being taken to Crest Hospital, Abuja.

The idea of flying him out for adequate medical attention was later jettisoned after he showed some signs of stability.

The front tyre of the Wada ill-fated car was said to have pulled out while on high speed and the vehicle somersaulted several times before plunging into an uncompleted building.

It was gathered that the governor on the said day was in a haste to return to Lokoja, the state capital, for the Friday Jumat prayer after leaving Ayingba around 1.pm.

The accident occurred at Eleta-Jimgbe (a suburb in Lokoja), about five minutes drive to the mosque.

”It is serious. Only the governor’s vehicle was involved; nothing happened to other vehicles in his front or those at the back,” a source said.

The source further said that the ADC, who was not putting on his seat belt, died on the spot as he was flung out of the car while Wada, his orderly and driver were treated at the State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja, before being flown to Abuja for further treatment.

Mother dies, baby lives

The second accident involved the Kogi State Government House ambulance on May 5, 2013 along Ganaja Road, Lokoja.

A nursing mother was knocked down by the ambulance. The unidentified woman was returning from church riding on Okada when the ambulance, in a bid to catch up with the governor’s convoy which was returning from Odu, in Dekina local government area where he had gone to monitor council polls, rammed into the Okada rider with his passenger, the woman, and crushed her from behind; killing her instantly.

However, luck smiled on the woman’s three-month-old baby also on the motorbike who survived the accident.  The Okada rider, who sustained injuries and was rushed to a private clinic, gave up the ghost the next day

The third accident followed when the governor’s convoy knocked down a male student of the Kogi State University, Anyigba, killing him in the process too.

The latest accident involving the convoy which killed Iyayi happened at Banda village along the Lokoja- Abuja highway.

Sunday Vanguard  gathered from the Kogi State Specialist Hospital that the female lecturer in the ASUU bus, Dr. Ngozi Ilo, who sustained fracture in her left leg, and the male passenger and driver who sustained injuries were treated at the hospital.

Eyewitness said the accident involved the rear vehicle in the convoy of Wada and a Toyota Hilux with registration number ED 357 USL belonging to ASUU, UNIBEN branch.

He added that the ASUU vehicle veered off the road, somersaulted three times before colliding with a tree in the bush, killing Iyayi on the spot and injuring the two others.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that seven security aides of the governor in the vehicle that hit Iyayi’s vehicle also sustained injuries and were treated at the Government House Clinic, Lokoja.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Olakunle Motajo, who confirmed the accident, said preliminary investigation revealed that there was wrongful overtaking on the part of the vehicle in the convoy, saying comprehensive investigation had commenced.

Olakunle confirmed that Iyayi’s corpse had been deposited at the hospital morgue where the injured ones were receiving treatment.

Sunday Vanguard also gathered that the governor did not know that the accident had happened since the other vehicles were far ahead into Lokoja when the accident occurred.

The death of the activist

The Chief Medical Director of Kogi State Specialist Hospital, Dr. Paul Amodu, while speaking with Sunday Vanguard in his office, said the late Iyayi must have died as a result of the injury he sustained in his heart in the course of the accident.

Amodu said “The late Professor Iyayi apparently sat at the left backside of the vehicle. And at the collision of the two vehicles, he sustained a penetrating injury straight to his heart”.  He said the late ASUU leader was found strapped to his seat dead, holding a newspaper in his hand.

The CMD, who, however, said there was a bottle of NOVASC  – an anti – hypertensive drug – found in the vehicle, said he could not ascertain that the professor died as a result of hypertension since he was not aware of his medical history.

Dr. Ngozi Ilo, the National Welfare Officer of ASUU, who sustained injuries during the accident, was confirmed to have fractured her leg. The orthopedic consultant at the Kogi hospital, Dr. Chizoba Osita Nwokite, who treated her, said she was fractured at the upper tenth side of her libia plateau. He said a POP had been fixed on the leg but it may take up to six months before she can make use of the leg again.

The other lecturer who was injured in the accident, the CMD said, only sustained a bruise at the arm tibia and has since recovered fully.

Meanwhile, Wada, who visited the emergency unit of the Kogi hospital to commiserate with the victims and also the mortuary to see the remains of  Iyayi, expressed shock over the incident.