The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, on Monday released an interim report on the auto crash that killed the Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi and his wife and son.
Mr. Oyeyemi attributed the accident to a busted tyre which resulted in the loss of control and somersaulting of the minister’s official car.Giving details of what happened, Mr. Oyeyemi said the crash occurred at kilometer 67 Kaduna-Abuja road, after Doka village.
“The crash occurred at about 1500hrs and involved two vehicles: one Toyota Lexus LX570 car and a backup car,” he said.
“Three lives were lost in the incident. While the minister and his son died instantly, the wife later died at the Doka Hospital near Kaduna.”
The corps marshal further disclosed that as soon as the crash occurred, the FRSC rescue teams were mobilised from the ambulance point and unit command at Doka and Kateri respectively, to the scene where they carried out the rescue activities.
Saying Monday’s report of the incident was preliminary, Mr. Oyeyemi said he had “ordered full investigation into the causes of the crash to determine what led to the ghastly crash in order to prevent future occurrence.”
The FRSC boss commiserated with President Muhamadu Buhari, members of the Federal Executive Council and the family of the deceased persons over the tragedy.
“The death of the minister in the crash was a tragic incident that again challenged the road safety agency to step up its campaigns against accidents,” Mr. Oyeyemi said.
The FRSC boss said he was personally touched and would work with relevant stakeholders to develop appropriate strategies that could address future occurrences.
Mr. Oyeyemi said the FRSC remained determined to work with the executive and members of the National Assembly as well as other relevant bodies to work out appropriate modalities for ensuring crash-free roads.
He said training and retraining of government drivers was part of the immediate measures being taken by the FRSC to avert convoy crashes in the country.
He noted that when FRSC trained the drivers of the governors’ convoys, the benefits in terms of improved driving culture became immediately noticeable, saying the corps would be working with members of the Federal Executive Council to train and re-train convoy drivers.
“We are working with the minister of works, power and housing to install traffic signs at some strategic points along the highways.
“We are equally committed to working with the National Assembly to step up advocacy and enforcement strategies to curtail issues of speed violation and promotion of use of seatbelt,” Mr. Oyeyemi said.