2 Feared Dead, 15 injured in Ogun multiple auto crash after staging protest

At least two persons reportedly died while 15 others were injured in multiple accidents involving three vehicles.

The accident involved truck carrying granite with number plate 44F95FG, Almera car with number plate TTD 884 AA, and a commercial bus with number plate FST 435 XD.

The accident occurred at Ayedere-Obada Oko axis in Ewekoro Local Government Area, Ogun State.

The two casualties were said to be members of Movement Against Corruption and Injustice who came to the Nigeria Union of Journalists Secretariat, in Abeokuta, to protest exploitation by cable network providers, DSTV and Star times.

The non-governmental organisation led by its founder, Bankole Solomon, had argued the cable networks to adopt the ‘pay per view’ method.

He also said local stations should be free on all cable networks.

He said, “We are here to register our anger and discomfort of what is happening in the system. We are here to protest against the bad policies of cable networks. The DStv, GOtv and Startimes are exploiting us. As we are speaking, our families are not at home but the card is reading even when there is no signal, when rain falls and when the decoder gets spoilt.

 “What we want is pay per view. You cannot continue to exploit us. We have been to South Africa and other European countries where they do pay per view. You pay for what you watch. We are saying enough is enough.”

However, when they were travelling back to their homes, the bus conveying them was involved in the accident.

Confirming the accident, the Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, said the accident was caused by the truck which suffered a brake failure.

He said, “The truck caused the accident when it suffered a brake failure. It ran into an Almera car, while the Almera car ran into the commercial bus.

“Two persons died while 15 others were injured in the multiple accidents.”

He said the corpses had been deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba, Abeokuta, while the injured were receiving treatment at a private hospital in the state.

When contacted the founder of the NGO said only one of their members died while one other person that was unconscious had been revived.

He said the incident occurred while they were going back to their homes after the protest.

He gave the name of the dead member as Comrade Johnson from Idi-Iroko axis, saying the incident devastated him and other members of the organisation.