No fewer than three persons said to be Christian clerics, have lost their lives when a sleeping driver lost control and rammed into a truck on the Abeokuta-Sagamu Expressway.
Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps spokesman, said the crash occurred around 9:44 am on Saturday, June 17, 2023, near Day Waterman College, a private school at Kobape, inbound Abeokuta.
He said the accident involved a black Rio car with the number plate AKD 827 DV and a white Sino truck with the number plate WDL 466 XA.
Akinbiyi explained that the crash resulted from the driver falling asleep at the wheel, combined with excessive speeding and a subsequent loss of control of the Rio car.
According to him, the Rio car carrying a driver, a passenger, and “three men of God” who were dressed in white robes, skidded to the other lane of the road, uprooted the street light at the median and collided with the Sino truck loaded with cement.
He revealed that the car had been traveling from Oke-Iragbiji in Osun State, where the clergymen had conducted prayers and a deliverance service.
“Suddenly, the driver lost control due to excessive speed and drowsiness. The car veered over the median, collided with and uprooted the streetlight, and then crashed head-on into the Sino truck, which was loaded with cement and heading out of Abeokuta,” he stated.
“Tragically, the three men of God lost their lives instantly due to the impact of the collision, while the driver and the front passenger sustained injuries,”
While commiserating with the victims’ families, Akinbiyi warned motorists to shun speeding and take adequate rest, at least six to seven hours before setting out on a journey.