By Maria Famakinwa

|

Fifteen years ago when Oba-Ile- Airport road was in state of disrepair, bushy and unmotorable, drivers and motorists were more careful on the road, accident and death on the road were at a zero level. But since 2017 when the road became dualised and commissioned, drivers plying the road have turned the express road to fast and furious game that often result in fatal accidents.
In October 2020, a police officer reportedly died along Oba-Ile road after a van conveying some officers was involved in an accident. April this year, another accident along the same road claimed about seven lives. Some days ago, three people were feared dead in another fatal accident along Oba-Ile-Airport road. Residents in the area and motorists who ply the road on daily basis, while speaking with The Hope, attributed it to over speeding and reckless driving on the part of motorists and called on the government to find a lasting solution to the incessant loss of lives.
In the submission of a commercial driver plying the road, Mr Sunday Ileyemi, he explained that the major cause of crashes on the road was over speeding. The man who added that Oba-Ile-Airport road has sharp bends, disclosed that if drivers are not careful while approaching the sharp bends, it could cause accident.
His words:”It is expected of any experienced driver to slow down while approaching the corner but some drivers, especially youths enter the corner with speed which makes it difficult for them to control the vehicle in any emergency. This is the major reason for frequent accidents on the Oba-Ile road. It is very hard to hear that commercial vehicles plying the same road are involved in accident. It is only private cars whose drivers drive on a very high speed.”
On what the State government can do to avert further accidents on the road he said,”government cannot do anything because it is a sharp bend and it is not advisable to erect speed limiters. The only solution is that road users should limit their speed. Everyone knows that speed kills. We cannot blame the government for putting the road in good shape. It is those using the road that should be more careful,” he said.
Sharing a similar sentiment, another commercial driver who plies the same road, Mr Oluwole Koya, also blamed incessant accidents on Oba-Ile road on over spending and appealed to the State government to erect road signs at strategic locations along the road. He said doing this will guide motorists against dangers. His words: “If road signs are erected, it will go a long way to alert drivers plying the road. This is not peculiar to Oba-Ile road alone but other roads across the State, because most of the roads in the state don’t have road signs.
“We should understand that not everyone using the road has enough knowledge of the road. Road signs will educate drivers and caution them when approaching a sharp bend, especially those who are not used to the road. I also want the state government to erect speed limiters along the road to force motorists to slow down. It is pathetic losing innocent lives along Oba-Ile road on a weekly basis. The State government should please act fast.” he said.
A private car owner who lives in Oba-Ile, Iya Ayo, hinted that accidents often occur at a particular spot because it is a sharp bend and most drivers are not patient enough when getting to the area. She said,”The reoccurring rate of accidents at that particular junction leading to loss of souls, calls for concern. Hardly will a week ends without loss of lives on Oba-Ile road.
“The way some drivers speed on the road is alarming. The recent one that happened few days ago was also due to over speeding. I was told that it involved Yahoo boys who were listening to music while driving and eventually lost concentration, which led to the untimely death of three of them. Some of these boys drive under the influence of alcohol while some of them put on ear-piece while driving. This is the result you get when youths who should still be under the roof of their parents are controlling millions of naira. Getting money you did not sweat for can intoxicate and make you misbehave. My heart only goes out to their parents.”
On the solution, she advised parents to talk to their children against the trend of get-rich-quick syndrome and keeping bad company. “Government too can help through the social media to sensitise the youths on the evil of internet fraud and driving under the influence of drug or alcohol,” she said.
A trader around the spot of the accident who witnessed some of the accidents but claimed anonymity blamed it on over speeding, but further revealed that incessant accidents on Oba-Ile road were beyond the ordinary. She said,” truly most accidents that happened at this junction were due to over speeding but I can tell you that it is beyond the ordinary. Afterall, there are other sharp bends on other roads in Oba-Ile and Akure. Why is it that accidents often occur at this particular spot? Some accidents happen at the same junction at nights that are not reported at all. Only some of us who live in the area get to know about them.
“The surprising thing is that most accidents that happened at this junction often claim lives. You see sacrifices placed at different places along the road. What are they for? Oba-Ile-Airport road was not prone to accident before.
When told that most of the accidents on the road involved private cars and not commercial vehicles, she said, “It is the gullible who will fall to the pranks of the evil ones. The gullible in the sense that they failed to understand that at every sharp bend on express road, one should drive safely so that if at all there is any incantation, they will go scot free. This is what differentiate the commercial drivers from the private ones.”
On how to avert further loss of lives at the junction she said, “drivers of both private and commercial vehicles using the road should be more prayerful and learn to approach the sharp bend with less speed. Government on its own should warn residents along Oba-Ile express road to desist from putting sacrifices around the area and Amotekun men should be assigned to watch the area in order to arrest anyone placing sacrifice along the express road,” she advised.