Ore tragedy: The inside story – ‘I could hear my friends screaming for help’ – How auto crash claimed 25 schoolchildren

The vacuum created by the loss of a loved one even when he is at a ripe old age is one that is usually not easily filled in a hurry. It is worse when it is a young adult in the prime of life. In Ore, Ondo State, not less than twenty-five primary and secondary […]

The vacuum created by the loss of a loved one even when he is at a ripe old age is one that is usually not easily filled in a hurry. It is worse when it is a young adult in the prime of life. In Ore, Ondo State, not less than twenty-five primary and secondary school students died in a motor accident on their way back from an excursion to Idanre Hills.

Although one week has gone by since the incident, the town is still in shock. Tears still flow freely at the mere sight of the Mazda bus in which the children perished.

Primary five pupil, Samiu Oyewole, one of the survivors, told Weekly Trust: “At about 8pm on our way from Idanre to Akure, our proprietor said a prayer before we headed towards Ore. While on the highway between Ondo town and Ore, a trailer left its lane and ran into us, hitting our bus on the side. The driver immediately ran away.”

Oyewole continued: “Our bus driver tried over and over to manoeuvre and get us to safety without luck. It was while the driver was trying to get a hold of the situation that another trailer coming from behind us rammed into us and drove us into the bush.

When asked how he managed to escape he said: “I fell asleep on the way from Ondo. It was then I felt I was being shaken violently and somebody was screaming and telling me we were involved in an accident. The four teachers with us died along with the proprietor of the school. I was told that so far twenty-eight of my friends, including other children, have died.”

Mr. Marufu Oyewole, Samiu’s father said, “Although I am immensely thankful to God Almighty that my child survived, I completely share the pain of other parents who lost their children. It is not an experience I would wish for my enemy to go through. The proprietor and I were very good friends and I mourn the loss of him too. I was to embark on that trip with them but couldn’t make it at the last minute. My consolation is that we all come from Him and to Him do we return.” When asked if he would give his consent to another such excursion he said, “Yes I will. It is God that protects and death can meet anybody anywhere and in any form.”

Another parent who didn’t have Mr. Oyewole’s testimony was still visibly shaken as our reporter met her close to Ore Police Station. She immediately burst into tears as she opened her mouth to speak. Giving her name as Abisola, she said, “Some of us were there that morning to say goodbye to them and wish them a safe trip. My child was almost too excited to even wave back at me or say ‘amen’ to my prayers. As they drove away singing and clapping, I felt as if my heart dropped as if something had been forcefully snatched away from me. I simply asked God to take charge. But the whole day I didn’t feel like myself and decided to stay back in Ore town rather than go back to Atunrase.  When at about 10.30pm word reached me that some school children were involved in an accident and had been taken to General Hospital, I immediately knew my son was dead and understood why I had felt the way I did the whole day.”

Like her, there were mothers who lost more than one child like Iya Iyabo whom Abisola said lost three children. “Iya Iyabo and I live in the same village and her three children were in the school. They had a small boarding facility which those of us from far away put our children in.”

Mr. Olasoji Gbegele, one of the commercial motorcycle drivers who was on hand to help the young victims, spoke to Weekly Trust. “It was about past 8pm that night when we were alerted that an accident had happened. By the time we were going in that direction to render help we noticed that an ambulance and some Federal Road Safety officials were already conveying victims to the General Hospital. So we followed them there. On reaching there, we discovered that a number of them were already dead. It was an overwhelming sight to see, so many innocent kids covered with blood, dead. Parents who were not comfortable with the attention being given by the doctors at the hospital decided to take their children to other private hospitals in town. My colleagues and I helped in conveying them to such hospitals.”

The Medical Director of the General Hospital, Ore, Dr. Foluke Ayodele, described the situation which faced them when the children were brought in. “Thirty wounded victims were brought in while thirteen of them were already dead on arrival and they were taken straight to the mortuary from the accident scene. At the time there were six doctors and seven nurses amongst other medical staff on ground that immediately began attending to them.

“Activities here that night were hectic, like it was afternoon period, with everyone on their toes, even when some of them were not supposed to be on duty. The person who was there to rescue them when the accident occurred put a call to me to alert me and asked that the ambulance be released to go and get the victims. Contrary to reports in many newspapers that 42 people died, fourteen people in all died. The fourteenth, Yusuf Abdulsalam died while receiving blood donated by his father, Ganiyu.  There was only one of them who died after arriving here. Fatimo who was reported to have died while here was one of those brought in dead and was in fact the first person to be taken away for burial that night. Dr. Kazeem Ola Suleiman who was said to have been the only one around at the time, was on call alright, but had two children of his own who were involved in the accident. He had to take them away as soon as they were brought in. It is not possible for one in this situation to be the only one around to attend to over twenty other victims.”

One of the victims, Shitu Majid, had head injuries and crushed injuries on the leg. He received three pints of blood donated by sympathisers was referred to Ife that night. While the others were being given treatment their parents we taking them away. None of the parents went comatose and was admitted here. By the following day they had all left.

Dr. Kazeem explained that, “In that psychology there was no way I would have been able to get myself together to do anything when my children were also involved. Other doctors were on hand to attend to them. As a parent, it is a sad incident but I don’t want to apportion any blame on anybody because I believe in destiny and in fate. The only problem I have is that when they saw that it was getting late at about 7pm, they should have looked for a decent place to pass the night.”

Thirteen-year-old Ajiboye Mojib, a JS1 student, is one of those under the care of doctors at the Mainland Hospital, a private outfit. The doctor in charge explained that, “Five of the injured children were brought here and of the five we have only of them left. The others have been discharged and are almost back to normal. He is still here because he has a fracture in his neck as well as a head injury. He is going through orthopaedic routine as well as treatment for his head and he is responding gradually. “He was in the vehicle with his younger brother who sustained bruises but has now been discharged.”

When asked if she would allow her children go on excursion, Mrs. Mojib adamantly refused. “Never, ever, will I do such a thing! I almost lost my two children for N1500 each. They will do the excursion in the village and around their surroundings.”

Police spokesperson, Aremu Adeniran said, “The bus driver was at fault. He was trying to overtake as an oncoming truck was making its way in his direction. He was unable to finish the stretch before the truck crashed into them. The Ore Police Division was able to rescue some of the victims and take them the General Hospital and other nearby ones for immediate attention.”

The reality and heartbreaking memories still lay bare on the highway where the accident took place. Looking down at the socks and school sandals of the children and imagining the tiny feet that occupied them or the excited fingers that pulled the socks up and strapped the buckles in place was almost unbearable, a resident said tearfully.

Some parents wondered how an eighteen-seater bus would carry forty-eight individuals even after parents had been levied one thousand five hundred naira for the excursion. One of them said, shaking her head: “All these kids would have been saved. This is a costly mistake smacking of penny-wise and absolutely pound-foolish.”