Tragedy!!! School Bus Crushes OAU Student to Death

According to news report by Punch, a second year undergraduate student of Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Miss Mary Ibitolu was crushed to death yesterday by a bus owned by a private secondary school in Osogbo, Osun state.

The report has it that the student was on a commercial motorcycle popularly called Okada when the tragedy struck; and she was said to have died after been rushed to the hospital.

PUNCH reports...

Tragedy struck in Osogbo, Osun State on Wednesday after a 200-level law student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Miss Mary Ibitolu, was crushed to death by a bus owned by a private secondary school in Osogbo.

Our correspondent gathered that the deceased was on a commercial motorcycle when the bus, which was said to have suffered brake failure, hit the motorcycle and knocked her down.

She was said to have been rushed to a private hospital at Okefia where she gave up the ghost. The motorcyclist was said to have survived the accident.

A commuter, who was waiting to board a bus, was also said to have been knocked down, but survived the incident.

One of the eyewitnesses, a hawker, told our correspondent that the school bus broke down, but the driver called on some passersby to assist him to push-start the engine.

He said when the engine started running, the driver discovered that the brake had failed when he was approaching the motorcycle conveying Ibitolu.

“He tried to stop the bus from hitting the okada but he failed. She fell off the motorcycle and was rushed to a hospital at Okefia, but she died there.

One of the members of the Nigerian Federation of Catholic Students at the OAU, Mr. Timothy Agbor, told our correspondent that Ibitolu, was a member of the fellowship.

Agbor said, “I was shocked when somebody called and informed me that she died in an accident. Mary was a God-fearing lady. I can’t believe she is gone.”

He added that a requiem Mass was ongoing for the deceased at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Osogbo as of the time of filing this report.

The bus and the motorcycle were said to have been taken to the Dada Estate Police Station.

Although the vehicle was seen at the station, policemen at the counter declined comment on the accident. They referred our correspondent to the Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Folasade Odoro.

However, efforts to speak to the PPRO proved abortive as calls made to her phone did not connect.