By Comrade Nnadi Goodluck
Olajide Asade, a 26-year-old man has been crushed to death on Wednesday by a Honda Odyssey car with number plate AAA 589 FV.
Olajide was reportedly making a video call with his girlfriend in Adedero village along Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu expressway, before the unfortunate incident occurred.
According to reports, the victim alongside his brother, Azeez, boarded a commercial bus from Kuto motor park in Abeokuta, Ogun State heading to Ajah, before the vehicle developed a fault as soon as they got to Adedero village, along Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu expressway.
The deceased was reportedly crossing the road and making the video call with his girlfriend when the accident occurred.
According to his brother, they were both travelling to visit their mother in Ajah, Lagos State.
His brother said: “My brother had been making the video call with the girlfriend from when we took off from Kuto motor park in Abeokuta.
“We left our house located at Ijoga Orile in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State very early for the journey.”
Azeez added that the that the driver of the vehicle, who hit his dead brother, was on normal speed before the accident occurred.
The driver who hit the deceased, identified as Bolaji Balogun, said Olajide was the one who ran into his vehicle.
He said: “I was going to the Obasanjo Farm to purchase crates of eggs for my company (Buas Farm) before the deceased ran into my car.”
The driver added that the deceased had already gotten to the front of his car before he could apply the brake.
The accident was confirmed by Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer of Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE).
Akinbiyi said that the accident occurred around 11:00 am on Wednesday morning.
Akinbiyi said: “We learnt a commercial Mazda car in which the deceased was driving in was on its way to Ajah in Lagos from Kuto park in Abeokuta when the driver noticed it had ran out of fuel.
“The driver had to park off the road to go and purchase fuel while the passengers in the vehicle waited for his arrival.
“Since there is a road diversion along the Abeokuta-Siun-Sagamu Interchange due to ongoing reconstruction, the deceased decided to cross to the other side of the road for safety.”
He continued: “However, when the driver of the Mazda car came back and had refilled the vehicle, the deceased, while crossing the road back to the car was making a video call oblivious of the fact that a vehicle was coming from the Sagamu end to Abeokuta.
“The vehicle, which was an Honda Odyssey, hit him and he died on the spot.”
At the time of filing this report, the driver has been detained at the police station, while the corpse of the deceased has been deposited at the General Hospital, Ijaiye, Abeokuta morgue.