The indigenes and inhabitants along the Oyo-Ogbomoso road have called on the Federal Government to expedite action on its speedy completion, saying that the said road has claimed several lives.
Speaking at a media briefing held at the Soun Ogunlola Hall, Ogbomoso, Rev. (Dr.) Israel Olubi Olaniyan, who spoke on behalf of the Oyo-Ogbomoso community hinted that the dual carriage Oyo-Ogbomoso axis of the state which he said, spanned fifty-two kilometers, started eighteen years ago is in a deplorable condition.
He noted that the deplorable condition of the road left commuters with no other option than to ply the old Oyo-Ogbomoso road which is one-lane road plied by vehicles of all sizes going to and from the Northern and Western parts of the country.
“Hitherto, this road has become a carcass of itself and a death trap for commuters plying it. Statistics at our disposal indicates that an average of fifteen persons die on the road per week.”
“When this is multiplied by forty-two weeks that make a year, it indicates that an average of 780 lives are lost annually on this road. When this is multiplied by eighteen years the road was awarded, it shows that an average of 14,040 persons have lost their lives on Oyo-Ogbomoso road,” Rev. Olaniyan disclosed.
He recalled that three secondary school principals and one accounts officer lost their lives to the cold hands of death on the road during one of the meetings of secondary school principals called by the state government, adding that one of the victims of the accident had spinal cord injury and is in the hospital till now.
“Just two weeks ago, fifteen students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, lost their lives in a ghastly motor accidents on the same road. Recently too, a truck carrying petrol fell along the road at Adeogun Village, its contents spilled out and set ablaze some houses and claimed the lives of inhabitants sleeping peacefully in their homes,” he recalled.
Rev. Olaniyan, however, called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Raji Fashola to expedite action on the speedy completion of the abandoned road, which he said, would salvage the precious lives of Nigerians plying the road from many dangers that the one-lane Oyo-Ogbomoso road posed.
Meanwhile, hundreds of indigenes and inhabitants of the Oyo-Ogbomoso community have staged a peaceful rally to the Palace of Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Jimoh Oyewunmi.
While speaking on behalf of the monarch, the Aare Ago of Ogbomosoland, Chief Samuel Sobalaje Otolorin called on the Federal Government to listen to the pleas of the community to hasten the completion of the road.
He expressed appreciation to the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo which started the construction of the Oyo-Ogbomoso road, while appreciating the current administration, especially on the spot assessment visits made by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Raji Fashola.
Packaged by Omotoyosi Jesuleye
