It is no longer news that a 200 -level student of the Ogun State College of Health Technology, Ilese, Ijebu Ode, Miss Blessing Ighenegbai, was killed by a truck in a gruesome manner on Tuesday.
The truck involved in the accident has been impounded at the army barracks in Ilese while its driver has been detained at the Police Area Command, Igbeba, Ijebu Ode, Saturday PUNCH learnt.
The 28-year-old Ighenegbai, an indigene of Edo State, was a student of dental therapy in the institution.
Ighenegbai was said to have met her untimely death when she was on her way from school heading for Ijebu Ode, a journey of less than two kilometres.
On the fateful day, she had reportedly taken a commercial motorcycle and was on her way to Ijebu Ode to withdraw some money from an Automated Teller Machine point.
The commercial motorcyclist who took her was said to be speeding and it was in his attempt to overtake another commercial motorcyclist that they ran into each other, and Blessing was said to have fallen in the process and the oncoming truck laden with crates of alcoholic drinks ran over her.
She was said to have died instantly, because her head region was mangled. The incident occurred around Oke Owa along Ilese-Ijebu Ife Road.
The driver of the truck, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, was said to be oblivious of the death of the lady, until passers-by drew his attention to the ugly incident.
The driver after the discovery was said to have gone to Ilese Police Station and reported the incident to the police.
He was said to have been taken into custody by men of the police area command in Igbeba, Ijebu Ode on Thursday.
Ighenegbai ’s death provoked violent reactions from her colleagues who live mostly along the axis where the sad incident happened.
They reportedly became uncontrollably wild and blocked the road with stones, sticks and other objects, thus causing a gridlock.
Policemen from Ijebu Ode Area command and soldiers from military barrack at Ilese were said to have been drafted to the scene to restore peace and order.
An eyewitness told our correspondent that the angry students were later dispersed by the soldiers who reportedly shot sporadically into the air.
The soldiers were said to have been pelted with stones by some of the students and hoodlums who had gathered around the scene.
However, the Dean of Student Affairs of OSCOTECH, Abeeb Agboola, who described the incident as “very sad” said the institution was yet to get over the grief of Igbenegbai’s death.
She described the late lady as easy going and friendly.
Agboola confirmed that she was on her way to Ijebu Ode to withdraw money from an ATM point before she met her sudden death.
He said, “That fateful Tuesday, I learnt she came to the school, and she even charged her phone in one of the offices before she left for Ijebu Ode.
“She was on her way to Ijebu Ode, where she hoped to withdraw money at an ATM point, but the okada rider who was taking her to Ijebu Ode was said to be trying to overtake another okada rider, it was in the process that they hit each other and Igbenegbai reportedly fell off and an oncoming truck crushed her to death.
“Some principal officers of the school and myself had to rush down to the scene. And with the help of the security men, we evacuated her corpse to the General Hospital’s mortuary in Ijebu Ode.”
Agboola said the family members ofthe deceased had been contacted and the school authorities had had a meeting with them.
“Her brothers had been here, we had meeting with them, and they are making arrangements for her burial.”
The management of the school, he said, had to shut the institution on Wednesday, following the protest by students who blocked the road by making bonfires. Soldiers were called in and they dispersed the students. The school looked like a ghost town when our correspondent went there on Thursday.
Meanwhile, police authorities in the state were said to have stepped up investigations into the incident, to unravel the owner of the truck.
The Ogun State Commissioner of Education, Mrs. Modupe Mujota, told Saturday PUNCH that the state government is engaging the parties involved in the tragedy to ensure a speedy resolution of the matter.
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