Gov. Adams Oshiomole
Less than 96 hours to the New Year the grapevine was agog with the news of the involvement of the convoy of the Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in an automobile accident in Ewu village along Benin – Auchi Road.
The accident which first filtered into town like one of those unfounded rumour was later confirmed the state government through Government House Media Unit which said that a J5 bus loaded with tomatoes and bunch of plantain “apparently lost control and rammed into the Governor’s Flag Car from the opposite direction before swerving into a road side ditch. Three vehicles in the Governor’s convoy were in front of the Governor’s Flag Car and had passed the Peugeot J5 bus before it [J5 bus] had direct impact with the Governor’s Car which had the Governor, his Aide-De-Camp [ADC] and his driver as occupants. The Governor’s Car was badly affected but no injuries were sustained by both occupants of the Peugeot J5 bus and that of the Governor’s.
“The Peugeot J5 bus was following a truck that was descending the Ewu slope when it suddenly veered off into the Governor’s lane from the opposite direction and directly impacted on the Governor’s vehicle, apparently because of brake failure. The good story is that nobody sustained injuries in both vehicles. The Comrade Governor is hale and hearty, his ADC and other occupants of the Peugeot J5 are also in good condition.
“The incident has been reported to the Divisional Police Station at Ewu for further investigation. This is to assure all good people of Edo State that there is no cause for alarm. Their loving Comrade Governor is fine, hale and hearty as well as other occupants of the other affected vehicle,” the government statement said.
Not minding the state government’s report, in the next couple of days the rumour around the acclaimed Heartbeat state was on how the government’s report was ‘doctored for security reasons’; that the governor was flown abroad immediately after the crash as a result of complications arising from the crash. The gist went further to claim that one of the governor’s security details lost his life in the crash.
The fact that the governor was not seen in the state for several days after the accident did not help matters.
However, it took the first state executive council meeting of the year, which the governor participated in, for the issue to be ‘laid to rest.’
“It is true that on the 28thDecember, 2013, at about 10am, I was heading from my village to Benin City to receive the Vice President who was visiting Uromi to attend the birthday celebration of Chief Tony Anenih. Even though he was on a private visit, I am obliged by protocol to receive him.
“I believe somewhere in Ewu, a bus that was packed with goods veered off its lane and headed straight to my car and hit the car. But for the fact that the car is armoured, it would have somersaulted given its impact and the bus driver was clearly on high speed.
“The luck however was that we were not on speed and so it was possible for the vehicles in my convoy to stop, otherwise, all the vehicles would have ran into my car and one thing would have led to the other,” Comrade Oshiomhole said.
He went on further to deny the story that he or anybody in his convoy was injured in the accident or died saying, “All of us in the car, my ADC, driver and myself were all having our seatbelts on. The airbags were all activated. Nothing happened to any of us. I still went to the airport to receive the Vice President after the accident.
“They say the devil is a liar. It does not matter what they say. God delivered all of us; none of us was injured in any manner. All those stories about being hospitalised and being under intensive care in an undisclosed hospital are figments of the imagination of those who were parroting the story.”
But the question most people are quick to ask is “what is it about Comrade Oshiomhole and accident on the Benin – Auchi Road?”
In less than six years of his assumption of office he and some of his aides have been involved in three fatal accidents on the Benin – Auchi Road. The first accident, which occurred less than five weeks into his administration, involved two of his aides – Chris Nwachukwu ( who was his chief press secretary then (CPS)) and Greg Aruna (personal assistant). The duo, driving in a KIA Cerato car that belonged to the CPS, had a head-on collision with a mini-bus belonging to the Delta State chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses. Both young men died on the spot.
Almost three and half years later, in April 2012, the governor’s convoy had a fatal crash which resulted in the death of three journalists with many others who were in the convoy sustaining life threatening injuries. This occurred barely three months to the state governorship poll
Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in the state, Dickson Imasogie, while reacting to insinuations that the accidents involving the governor and his aides on the road is as a result of shoddy job on the road which is a federal government project, said: “Are you not aware that the contract for the dualisation of the road has been awarded? Is work not going on on the road presently? Don’t over blow it by saying that the road is bad.
“Which road is not bad? Is it 1st Circular or 2nd and 3rd which are all state roads? What of Ogida and Ugbiyoko roads? Are they in good condition? They are all state government roads. If they were not on high speed they wouldn’t have had such an accident because the road is okay even as the FG is trying to improve on it.”
However, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Peter Okhiria, refuted insinuations that his principal must have been involved in terrible accidents on the road because of careless driving. He averred that the two times the governor have been involved in accidents on the Benin – Auchi Road has always been as a result of the terrible driving habit of the other parties.
Henry Idahagbon, the state’s Attorney – General and Commissioner for Justice, said that the state has enough laws to deal with the issue of careless driving. He put the blame on lack of proper approach to the enforcement of the existing laws by the law enforcement agencies.
“It is the responsibility of the police to police our highways and to charge offenders to court. It is only after their arraignment that we (Ministry of Justice) as a ministry can intervene. We’ve a lot of laws that regulate driving of vehicle on the road,” he submitted
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