A campaign mobilisation exercise organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in support of its governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, turned tragic on Wednesday after a truck reportedly crashed into party supporters in Ede, Osun State, leaving one person dead and seven others injured.
The deceased, identified as AbdulRasaq Ahmed, was among scores of APC members participating in a street campaign ahead of the August 15 governorship election when the incident occurred near the Oke Gada area of Ede.
Confirming the development, the Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji Campaign Committee, Remi Omowaiye, said the injured victims had been taken to hospitals for treatment.
“One person was killed in the accident. Seven others were injured, but one out of the seven was critically injured,” Omowaiye said.
According to eyewitness accounts, the tragedy occurred despite traffic control measures reportedly put in place by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) deployed to manage vehicular movement during the campaign procession.
One witness, who spoke anonymously, alleged that the truck driver ignored directives restricting vehicles to one side of the road and drove into the lane reserved for the campaign crowd.
“It was a sad incident and one which could have been avoided. The coordinator of the Federal Road Safety Corps had earlier directed that vehicles should use one lane of the road while APC members used the other lane.
“However, the truck driver drove through the lane we were walking on and rammed into the crowd. The boy was killed in the process, while many got injured and are receiving treatment at the hospital,” he said.
The incident has sparked calls for a thorough investigation, with APC leaders questioning the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Speaking after visiting the family of the deceased, the running mate to the APC governorship candidate, Benjamin Adereti, said the party was seeking answers over what led to the fatal incident.
“We are still trying to unravel the reason behind this. The way the incident happened looked like the truck deliberately rammed into our party members in Ede while campaigning.
“I want to call on the security agencies in Osun and Nigeria to carry out a thorough investigation into the immediate and remote causes of this incident. If this is a deliberate action by Ademola Adeleke and the Accord Party to stop us from forging ahead with our campaign, I can assure them we are unstoppable.
“I commiserate with the family of AbdulRasaq Ahmed over this unfortunate incident. May God console the family. We all know the pain of losing a child,” Adereti said.
As of the time of filing this report, authorities had yet to release an official statement on the cause of the crash, while investigations into the incident were expected to commence.
