School bus crushes OAU student to death in Osogbo

Te school bus

Tragedy struck in Osogbo on Wednesday when a 200 level law student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Miss. Mary Ibitolu, was  crushed to death by a bus belonging to a private secondary  school in Osogbo.

Our correspondent gathered that the deceased was on a commercial motorcycle when the bus which was said to have suffered brake failure hit the bike and knocked her down.

She was said to have been rushed to a private  hospital at Okefia where she gave up the ghost. The motorcyclist was said to have survived the accident. A commuter, who was waiting to board a bus was also said to have been knocked down but survived.

One of the eyewitnesses, a hawker in front of Osogbo High School where the accident happened told our correspondent that the school bus broke down but the driver called on some passers by to assist him to push-start the engine.

He said the engine started running and the driver moved it but he  suddenly discovered that the brake had failed when he was approaching the motorcycle conveying Ibitolu.

“He tried to stop the bus from hitting the motorcycle but he failed. She fell off  and was rushed to a hospital at Okefia but they said she died there.

One of the members of  of the the Nigerian Federation of Catholic Students at the OAU, Mr. Timothy Agbor, told our correspondent that Ibitolu was a member of the fellowship.

Agbor said, ” I was shocked when somebody called and informed me that she had died in an accident. Mary was a God fearing lady. I can’t believe she is gone.  It is too soon.”

He aaded that a requiem mass was ongoing for the deceased at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Osogbo as of the time of filing this report.

The bus and the motorcycle were said to have been taken to Dada Estate Police Station. Although the bus and the motorcycle were seen at the police station,  policemen there declined  to comment about the accident and they referred our correspondent to the Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Folasade Odoro.

However, efforts to speak to the PPRO proved abortive as calls to her telephone did not connect.