A 24-year-old student of the Gateway ICT Polytechnic Saapade, Idowu Pelumi David, has been reported killed by a hit-and-run driver in Ogun State.
According to reports, David, an ND1 Public Administration student at the Ayepe campus of the institution, died alongside the 22-year-old Hassan Ariyo, the motorcyclist carrying him to his destination.
Confirming the incident to DAILY POST on Wednesday, the spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, said
the car had lost control and collided with the motorcycle, causing both riders to fall and sustain fatal head injuries.
Odutola noted that efforts are underway to apprehend the fleeing driver, and a sketch and photographs have been taken for reference.
“On Monday at about 2 pm, a fatal hit-and-run accident took place in Sakura Division along the Sagamu Ikenne Road. The incident involved an unknown black Toyota Camry car and an unregistered Bajaj motorcycle, ridden by 22-year-old Hassan Ariyo from Ikenne and his passenger, 24-year-old Pelumi Ade, a student at Sapade Gateway Polytechnic.
“Their bodies were removed and taken to OOUTH Mortuary. Parents of the deceased, accompanied by the Chairman of Odogbolu Local Government, have requested the bodies for burial.
“Efforts are underway to apprehend the fleeing driver, and a sketch map and photographs have been taken for reference,” she said.
However, student bodies in the state have disclosed plans to protest the unjust death on Friday.
This was contained in a statement jointly signed by the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, National Association of Ogun State Students, NAOSS, and Progressive Student Movement in Abeokuta.
The statement reads: “Information at our disposal reveals that two youths died on the spot in an accident said to have been caused by a careless driver said to have absconded. However, eyewitness reports revealed that a suspected grey-coloured Toyota Camry car, with registration number BDF590HE, engine number 2GR226578 and chassis number 4T1BK46U548862, belonging to one Ojo Aina, was driven into the premises of the NYSC camp in a suspicious manner immediately after the unfortunate incident.
“Further information at our disposal reveals that the NYSC management initially denied allegations of the vehicle driving in, which resulted in the physical abuse of Nigerian students at the scene by military personnel assigned to secure the NYSC camp.
“But after a heated argument and the intervention of the executive chairman of Odogbolu Local Government Area, the area commander of Sagamu and the DPO of Sakora Division, the suspected vehicle was brought out, newly washed with the towel used in washing the car covering the vehicle’s number plate.”
They maintained that the accident was not a head-on collision, going by the injuries sustained by the victims.
The student unions, while commending the swift response of the Nigeria Police, however, expressed displeasure that the suspected vehicle and driver are yet to be in police custody.
“We also demand the immediate replacement of Mrs Olayinka Diana Nasamu, the state coordinator of NYSC in Ogun State, for her lack of empathy and lackadaisical attitude towards the dead,” the statement added.
The student bodies affirmed that they will be “protesting at the NYSC State Secretariat the death of our student by the driver who drove into the NYSC premises and was said to be an NYSC staff.”
The protest, according to the statement, is scheduled for Friday, July 12, 2024.