Idahosa - Truck Driver
In the past few weeks, the internet has been inundated with
offensive photographs of an accident scene where a driver
allegedly crushed to death 19 robbery victims at the Obalende
area of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State.
Fresh details have, however, emerged on the incident, as the
man who drove his truck over the robbery victims has cleared
the air. The incident, according to him, happened on July 31 2009.
And contrary to the general belief that the driver of the
ill-fated luxury bus was ordered to run over his passengers
by the bandits, the man whose vehicle crushed the robbers
was actually the driver of a truck.
The Edo State born driver spoke with Daily Sun
at the police headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja at the
weekend. He said he ran over the passengers thinking they
were barricades put on the highway by armed robbers. Giving
a graphic account on how the 19 robbery victims met their
gruesome death, Osayande Idahosa, 40, said he was driving
a Seaner Truck with registration number XN 808 BEN on July
31 last year from Benin en route Lagos.
According to him, he was in company with his conductor, Lucky,
and the woman who hired him for the trip. The woman, he said,
was going to supply some bags of garri.
Idahosa said he encountered a huge traffic jam at Ore but
said he decided to continue the journey because of the nature
of the goods in the truck.
He said he noticed that there were no other vehicles on the
road until he sighted the headlights of some vehicles at Obalende
area of Ijebu-Ode. “When I saw the lights, I was happy.
I did not know that it was an evil light that will continue
to haunt me till eternity,” he said.
Idahosa said immediately he approached the vehicle, he sighted
some barricades that looked like logs of wood on the highway.
“I thought it was a police check-point, so I slowed
down. But I started hearing gun shots. I saw many people firing
at me. Out of panic, I decided to run over what I assumed
were logs of woods.
“As my truck ran over the ‘barricades’,
I noticed that they were too soft. I also heard gun shots
and agonizing cries of people. I suspected that I must have
killed some people but I did not know who my victims were.
I couldn’t control the vehicle and it ran into the bush.
I immediately jumped down and took to my heels. “While
in the bush, I saw about 20 armed men in civilian clothes
searching for me. They were boasting that they would soon
fish me out and slaughter me in pieces. At this time, I did
not know the fate of my conductor or that of the woman who
hired me.”
He explained that while the armed men where searching his
vehicle, he ran deeper into the bush where he found a hole
in which he hid. The incident, he said, occurred about 9.45p.m.
He said he continued hiding in the bush till six the following
morning, August 1. Idahosa further said that in the morning,
he started hearing the sound of siren and he saw some of the
robbers fleeing the scene. When he suspected that the robbers
were all gone, he now traced his way to the highway, he explained.
According to him, when he got to the road, he saw another
driver who told him that those he ran over were actually human
beings. Idahosa was reportedly advised not to venture near
the scene as he would definitely be lynched by the angry mob
who were still in shock at the huge number of corpses that
littered the road. His driver friend, he said, dropped him
off at Ijebu-Ode junction where he picked a commercial motorcycle
to the Obalende police station and surrendered himself to
the policemen on duty. The cops reportedly took his statement
and advised him to go back to the scene as the Commissioner
of Police, the Divisional Police Officer and other senior
policemen were there for an on the spot assessment.
Idahosa said when he got to the scene and sighted the havoc
committed by him, he bent down and wept. He then allegedly
surrendered himself to the mob who were walling uncontrollably.
“But rather than stoning me to death, they all started
listening to my story on how I unintentionally killed innocent
robbery victims who I mistook to be robbers’ barricades.
The sympathizers started consoling me, telling me it was not
my fault. The policemen took me along with them and I was
with them for four days before I was granted bail.”
He revealed that for the next one month, he couldn’t
stand the sight of meat. “Right now, I won’t engage
in a night journey anywhere. The pain is too much for me to
bear. My wife is devastated. You can’t imagine the agony
I go through everyday when I remember how I crushed 19 innocent
people to death. But I trust that God will forgive me because
I did not know that they were human beings.” Driver of the robbed
Young Shall Grow luxury bus with registration number XF 285 AKD,
Okechukwu Okafor, blamed the tragedy on the bad condition of the road.
Source
offensive photographs of an accident scene where a driver
allegedly crushed to death 19 robbery victims at the Obalende
area of Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State.
Fresh details have, however, emerged on the incident, as the
man who drove his truck over the robbery victims has cleared
the air. The incident, according to him, happened on July 31 2009.
And contrary to the general belief that the driver of the
ill-fated luxury bus was ordered to run over his passengers
by the bandits, the man whose vehicle crushed the robbers
was actually the driver of a truck.
The Edo State born driver spoke with Daily Sun
at the police headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja at the
weekend. He said he ran over the passengers thinking they
were barricades put on the highway by armed robbers. Giving
a graphic account on how the 19 robbery victims met their
gruesome death, Osayande Idahosa, 40, said he was driving
a Seaner Truck with registration number XN 808 BEN on July
31 last year from Benin en route Lagos.
According to him, he was in company with his conductor, Lucky,
and the woman who hired him for the trip. The woman, he said,
was going to supply some bags of garri.
Idahosa said he encountered a huge traffic jam at Ore but
said he decided to continue the journey because of the nature
of the goods in the truck.
He said he noticed that there were no other vehicles on the
road until he sighted the headlights of some vehicles at Obalende
area of Ijebu-Ode. “When I saw the lights, I was happy.
I did not know that it was an evil light that will continue
to haunt me till eternity,” he said.
Idahosa said immediately he approached the vehicle, he sighted
some barricades that looked like logs of wood on the highway.
“I thought it was a police check-point, so I slowed
down. But I started hearing gun shots. I saw many people firing
at me. Out of panic, I decided to run over what I assumed
were logs of woods.
“As my truck ran over the ‘barricades’,
I noticed that they were too soft. I also heard gun shots
and agonizing cries of people. I suspected that I must have
killed some people but I did not know who my victims were.
I couldn’t control the vehicle and it ran into the bush.
I immediately jumped down and took to my heels. “While
in the bush, I saw about 20 armed men in civilian clothes
searching for me. They were boasting that they would soon
fish me out and slaughter me in pieces. At this time, I did
not know the fate of my conductor or that of the woman who
hired me.”
He explained that while the armed men where searching his
vehicle, he ran deeper into the bush where he found a hole
in which he hid. The incident, he said, occurred about 9.45p.m.
He said he continued hiding in the bush till six the following
morning, August 1. Idahosa further said that in the morning,
he started hearing the sound of siren and he saw some of the
robbers fleeing the scene. When he suspected that the robbers
were all gone, he now traced his way to the highway, he explained.
According to him, when he got to the road, he saw another
driver who told him that those he ran over were actually human
beings. Idahosa was reportedly advised not to venture near
the scene as he would definitely be lynched by the angry mob
who were still in shock at the huge number of corpses that
littered the road. His driver friend, he said, dropped him
off at Ijebu-Ode junction where he picked a commercial motorcycle
to the Obalende police station and surrendered himself to
the policemen on duty. The cops reportedly took his statement
and advised him to go back to the scene as the Commissioner
of Police, the Divisional Police Officer and other senior
policemen were there for an on the spot assessment.
Idahosa said when he got to the scene and sighted the havoc
committed by him, he bent down and wept. He then allegedly
surrendered himself to the mob who were walling uncontrollably.
“But rather than stoning me to death, they all started
listening to my story on how I unintentionally killed innocent
robbery victims who I mistook to be robbers’ barricades.
The sympathizers started consoling me, telling me it was not
my fault. The policemen took me along with them and I was
with them for four days before I was granted bail.”
He revealed that for the next one month, he couldn’t
stand the sight of meat. “Right now, I won’t engage
in a night journey anywhere. The pain is too much for me to
bear. My wife is devastated. You can’t imagine the agony
I go through everyday when I remember how I crushed 19 innocent
people to death. But I trust that God will forgive me because
I did not know that they were human beings.” Driver of the robbed
Young Shall Grow luxury bus with registration number XF 285 AKD,
Okechukwu Okafor, blamed the tragedy on the bad condition of the road.
Source
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