TRAIN/BUS ACCIDENT: Corps member boarded staff bus due to Naira scarcity
....plans for Masters programme in UK
CITIZENS COMPASS– Oreoluwa Aina, a National Youth Service Corps member one of those that lost their lives to the PWD train/bus collision in Lagos, had N200 on her when the accident occurred.
He father, Mr Femi Aina, who disclosed this in an interview, said this occured due to the lingering Naira scarcity in the country as her daughter did not usually board the staff bus.
She was compelled to board the bus because she could not get cash to transport herself to her place of primary assignment on the fateful day.
Although she survived the accident and was well attended to at the hospital but she later gave up the ghost on her hospital bed.
Recall that on Thursday March 9, 2023, a Lagos State Government staff bus collided with a train in the PWD area of the state, leading to the death of some passengers with many hospitalised after suffering severe injuries.
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Scarcity of Naira notes, hit the country late 2023 after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) redesigned N200, N500 and N1,000 denominations although many Nigerians have been lamenting scarcity of both the old and new Naira notes for reasons left to the Apex bank who fixed a deadline on the old Naira notes.
Irked by this, some state governors have dragged both CBN and the federal government to court to extend the deadline.
The Supreme Court has however invalidated the new naira design policy initiated by the Federal Government on the grounds that it was not done with due consultation and in line with constitutional provisions.
The apex court on March 3, ordered that the old naira notes shall continue to be used side by side with the new naira notes till December 31, 2023.
The court held that the three months timeline was also not in tune with the CBN’s Act and as such unconstitutional.
Bereaved father laments
“I know she boarded the staff bus, but not every day. If not for this cashless policy, she would not have followed that bus. But she did not have cash, so she had to follow the bus. She had just N200. They just kill people anyhow in this country,” Oreoluwa’s father told our correspondent.
Shocking news!
Speaking on how he got to know of the incident, he said, “I was in Abuja watching the television around 9am when I saw the incident. An hour after that, I got a call that my daughter was involved in it. That was when I knew what I saw on TV was actually happening to me. Then, I immediately called my younger brother and sister in Lagos. I later received two more calls in another 10 minutes and by then, she was already in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). They were attending to her and at the same time calling me from there. I even heard some of the staff members praying for her. So, I rushed to the airport to get any available flight back to Lagos but when my plane was ready to take off by 4 pm, I was told that she had passed away.”
He revealed how Oreoluwa was to proceed for her Master’s degree programme abroad after the NYSC programme.
“She planned to travel to the United Kingdom for her Master’s programme, and she was already into catering. She was part of a thrift society and they even called me from there yesterday to inform me about it. She was saving money to start a mobile food business,” he said.
The father added that even though her daughter had plans to study more, she was also trying to do quite a number of things.
“She was also into music and she recorded in the studio. We are members of The Apostolic Church and she was a staunch member. I learnt she was even the one that led the song last Sunday. She had so many plans and she was just about to fly. It was just this youth service which is mandatory that she wanted to complete and then fly,” the father added.
Citizens Compass reported that Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) said there are still 43 victims of the train-bus accident on admission within its hospitals.
LASUTH had on Thursday, March 9, 2023, said it received 102 victims of the PWD train-bus crash for treatment.
The Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Adebayo Taofiq, in a tweet on Thursday morning announced that a Lagos State Government staff bus with registration no 04A- 48LA crushed by a moving train at PWD, Ikeja area of Lagos.
He said, “The accident recorded many casualties as the staff bus was fully loaded with govt staff going to the office this morning.”
A statement signed by the Ministry of Health and titled, ‘Updates on the Bus/Train Accident in Lagos as of Sunday, March 12, 2023,’ explained that 53 victims had been discharged.
“A total number of patients/passengers discharged as of Sunday, March 12, 2022, is 53, and the total number of patients on admission as of today is 43.
“LASUTH has 39, General Hospital Odan-Lagos has two, and General Hospital, Gbagada has two.”
The statement also gave an analysis of the distribution of the passengers to some of its hospitals across Lagos after the triage, saying, “Break down of location after triage from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital had 71, GH, Lagos has four victims, GH, Orile-Agege had 10, GH, Gbagada had six and Tollgate Trauma Centre had five of the victims.”
Furthermore, of the six deaths it recorded, two occurred at the site of the accident and four at LASUTH during resuscitation.
