‘I was trying to help without knowing my children died in the crash’

Full story of school accident: ‘I was trying to help without knowing  my children died in the crash
Early on Wednesday,  May 11, three little kids who could have been leaders of tomorrow bided their parents farewell as they boarded a school-bus to their school, but they neither saw their parents again nor got to their destination. It was tragic.

Esther: Bus conductor

Philip 14, and Adetomi Ademusayo 12, both of the same parent died on the spot while Esther died few minutes after she was rushed to the hospital.

The accident occurred at Eko-Akete in Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos that fateful morning, after the school-bus in which they were being driven reportedly lost control and skidded off its on route and crashed with a jeep killing the three children, leaving Ibrahim, a two-year-old  baby in the bus injured.  Although, the multiple accident, as it were, also left some other persons with various degrees of injuries.
Since the accident, insinuations were that the number of deaths at the scene of the accident were far more than what was reported in the media.   Saturday Vanguard however gathered that the school bus was only carrying five persons, which included four kids and the conductor as we reported weeks back.
Now, the parents of the three kids that died in the crash are yet to come to terms with the death of their kids. When Saturday Vanguard visited the homes of the parents recently, the ambience was yet sorrowful, their eyes heavy and they looked cold with a few sympathisers coming to condole them. Tears rolled down as they narrated their traumatic experience to our reporter.
My two children were my only hope in life— Ademusayo
“The report I got indicated that many children died but those who were at there said my two children and one child whose name was Esther died. We were told that Esther was rushed to Epe General Hospital but she died later. I only saw a small boy who survived.  He sustained injuries.
So, what I heard was that three children died and one survived.
“ On that day, my children left home before me. There was a terrible traffic on my way to the office which was the same route and when I asked the cause of the gridlock, I was told there was an accident. When I got to the scene, I saw that a school bus and some other vehicles were involved in the accident.

Bukola: mother of dead kids

I was also told that some school children were in the bush.  So, I decided to help. I thought of leaving the scene when the FRSC and the policemen intervened. At that point, I was curious about the name of the school that was involved in the accident.
“I was still thinking when one of the sympathizers said a Cornerstone Bright School in Sangatedo was involved in the accident and unfortunately, they have packed the remains of those children before I got to the scene. That was when I knew my children have died.
At that point, I started crying. I was only trying to help before I heard that my children were amongst the school children that died. The first ambulance took some of the affected people away, so I didn’t see any corpse.
They were the only children I had. My wife and I  stopped child bearing not because we wanted to but because of my wife’s condition. She had the two through Caesarean Section and the doctor  warned us not to conceive anymore because of her health. We have been nurturing these children for the past fourteen years and just in a day, the two killed died in an auto crash.”
God brought back my son  to me alive — Yusuf Zulu
Yusuf  Zulu  is the father of the only survivor in the accident. “When I heard that my boy didn’t die, I realised that there is nothing that God cannot do. My son Ibrahim  is alive by God’s grace. He is two years and seven months. He was attending the school because his mum’s shop is at Sangotedo.
So, it was very easy for the mother to pick him in the school after closing hours after which I will pick them in the night when returning from work.  Since the incident, I have been spending money on treating him of internal injuries and broken bones.”
I’ve been abandoned— Esther, school bus conductor
“The driver didn’t look very well before crossing the road.  He was supposed to cross to the other side where we were going to pick another pupil but unfortunately, he didn’t look at  the road before crossing.  The children were four in the bus.
I don’t know the number of children that died because I was inside the bus shouting for help. The small boy was on my head and after I was rescued , I told the people to help me carry the small boy out. They did and I told them that there were still some children inside the bus and they started turning the bus and when they finally raised the bus, they  brought the children out but said they were dead. Then, I started crying.”
The school bus was in good condition  —Proprietress
“From the report we got, a jeep ran into the school bus. The bus is a new one and that day was the second time the bus ever worked in the morning.

Yusuf : Father of survivor

It usually worked on Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon. We learnt the bus skidded to the other side of the road, somersaulted and the children that died  always sat at the back of the bus because they were the first set of students to be picked in the morning. The bus had picked four children already when the accident happened.”
“I was expecting to see the children and the bus back to the school that morning but someone called me and reported  that my children were in Safeway Hospital and I melted.
“The driver’s  name is Akpan Peters. He just started driving for us but he confirmed that he has been driving for more than ten years. We saw his I.D card and his CV. He is married. He is in his 40s.  But I wasn’t around when the administration employed him. They showed me his CV and my husband certified that he has been a driver for a long time .
We have been mindful of not taking just anybody as driver and  that is why it took a while before we could employ him. The last driver was stealing from the school and was also siphoning fuel, stealing bus batteries. We didn’t sack him. He left when my husband decided to deduct some amount from his salary.
“Since the unfortunate incident, the PTA chairman has been good. At first, we were asked to stay away  because of the parents’ anger.  So, the PTA was representing us. But on Wednesday, 18 May, all the parents went to commiserate with the families that lost their children. On Friday  May 20, my family went and on Sunday, May 22, we were there with the Ministers from the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, from my zone. The parents of the two children that died are worshipers in RCCG church.

Ibrahim

Although, the man that lost his children is still troubled , I’ve been sending him text messages. But this incident has affected me. I have been the topic of discussions  I can’t walk in my vicinity freely. The kind of image that this incident has given the school is bad.”
I narrowly escape death— Raymond Ibrahim, a cab-driver
“I narrowly escaped death. I was the first person hit by the school bus when it lost control.  I’m a commercial driver and I was coming from Ajah to Lakowe  while the school bus was coming from Lakowe, Suddenly, I saw the bus skidded off its lane to the other lane where I was. It hit my car and crossed over to the other road.
A jeep that was coming behind ran into the school bus. The school driver was on top speed and so he lost control and skidded off the road to the other side.  There were six vehicles involved in that  accident. I lost control after I was hit first by the bus. I was able to regain consciousness and I was told that it was my passenger that brought me out of the car because he wasn’t injured.
I had two passengers with me. The person that was sitting by my side was injured on the head. The driver of the other car behind me broke his legs while the passenger died. I didn’t know I would be alive by now.
“I was told later that the driver had brake failure which resulted in that accident but I don’t think it was true. I was there when it happened. He was careless and reckless at a sharp corner.
“I usually  go out as early as 5 a.m. and on  that day, I’d gone on the first trip. I was on the second trip when the accident happened. The accident happened around 7.20am . I got the car about seven months ago on hire purchase. I’d  paid the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand naira as advance payment while I pay instal mental of N10,000.00 monthly.
The total sum of that car is five hundred thousand naira. It is expected that I pay all the money before I can fully claim its ownership. I was thinking of how to pay the balance before the accident happened. Right now, the vehicle is damaged  and I have no means of paying up the balance. I went to the school authority to see how it can intervene but  unfortunately, I was told that there was no provision whatsoever for me.

Source : vanguard newspaper