Looking at the passenger manifest of the
Young Shall Grow Motors’ luxury bus that was consumed along with 30
passengers in the April 5, 2013 crash at Ugbogui, Edo State, one cannot
but wonder at the relationship between those who have the same surnames
on the manifest.
They died when a Dangote cement truck
reportedly had a burst tyre and crashed into a stationary fuel tanker
before exploding and consuming their oncoming luxury bus. The bus was on
its way from Lagos to Enugu when its journey was abruptly terminated at
Ugbogui on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway.
Continue reading after the cut...
Saturday PUNCH went in search of
some of the owners of the phone numbers listed as next of kin in the
manifest. The result was heart-rending. Family members of the victims
were in great pain and shock.
One of the most shocking stories was
that of Nneka and Kenneth Ojielo, a couple who died in the accident.
Theirs is a story that will bring tears to many eyes.
Kenneth had not seen his wife of 22 years in the last 10 years until Thursday, the day before they both perished in the crash.
Nneka’s younger brother, Ogonna Abako, told Saturday PUNCH,
“Kenneth travelled to Austria in 2003 in search of greener pastures.
Before he left, they already had five children. Their eldest child is
21.
“They actually got married very early.
Kenneth was 26 years old when they got married while my sister was about
20 years old at the time. Everybody was joyous when we heard he was
coming home.
“My sister travelled to Lagos from Enugu
on Wednesday (two days before the accident). On Thursday, I took her to
the airport to welcome her husband. No one could separate them when
Kenneth eventually came out with his luggage. They kissed for about 15
minutes and everybody around just stood watching.”
A picture of the joyous reunion taken by
Ogonna’s wife on her mobile phone at the airport showed a couple with
much happiness written all over their faces.
But that joy was short-lived.
On Friday, they decided to travel to
Enugu. Kenneth wanted to meet his children as soon as possible. The
children too were ecstatic in Enugu as they kept calling, asking their
father, whom they had not seen in the last 10 years, to get home on
time.
Ogonna said, “I drove my sister and her
husband to a hotel and lodged them there. The following day, I woke up
early to take them to the bus park. We got to Jibowu and realised that
the Ekene bus they wanted to take had already left.
“I wanted them to take a smaller bus, but Kenneth insisted he would rather board the luxury bus.”
Our correspondent learnt that the couple
held hands in the bus and prayed for journey mercies as Ogonna bid them
farewell, not knowing it was for the last time.
He said he called his sister’s phone at 3pm but it did not connect. He thought there was at network problem.
“When it was 6pm, my sister’s eldest
child called and said she had not seen her parents. I then asked my
brother to go to the Young Shall Grow park in Enugu. He was told there
that only two of the company’s buses took off from Lagos that day, one
from Maza Maza and one from Jibowu.
“Many families were waiting for their
relations at the park too. The bus that took off from Maza Maza got to
the park and that was when the passengers broke the news of the accident
to waiting families. Those children will never see their father and
mother again,” Abako said as he dabbed at his teary eyes.
Continue.....
At Mrs. Rita Chukwuemelie’s residence at
No. 4, Moses Adebayo Street, Ojodu-Berger in Lagos, it was as if the
whole world had come crashing down.
Chukwuemelie sat on the floor of her apartment, surrounded by four other members of the family who were consoling her.
The air was thick with grief, as the woman, who is in her 50s, bemoaned the tragedy that had hit the family.
She sighed and let out occasional sounds
of agony. Her only sister, 58-year-old Rebecca Mbachu, was listed as
Number 26 on the manifest provided by the Federal Road Safety
Commission.
“She died with her three children. The only sibling I have in the whole world perished with her entire family,” she wailed.
Our correspondent learnt that Mbachu and
her three children – Chinyere (25), Oluchukwu (12), Ebuka (6) and a
niece, Mesoma, were on their way to Enugu after attending an overnight
programme at the campground of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles
Ministries along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday.
Chukwuemelie told Saturday PUNCH,
“When they finished the programme on Friday morning, my sister called
me to ask for where they could get a bus to Enugu and I directed them to
Jibowu, Lagos, where I know there are parks for buses going to the
East.
“I later went to Jibowu to meet them.
After we had paid their fare, Ebuka, my sister’s youngest child said,
‘Mummy, I don’t like this bus. I don’t want to board this bus’. But his
mum assured him that luxury buses were safer than the smaller buses he
pointed to as his choice.
“We probably would have reconsidered if
they had not already got their tickets. I watched them board. Chinyere
told me as they boarded that I must not forget her birthday (April 7). I
promised her I would not. I watched as the bus left the park.”
Chukwuemelie had no inkling that her
sister and her entire family were heading for a violent death. Mbachu’s
husband had died about 10 years before, leaving her to cater for the
children.
Chinyere was going to graduate from
Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State later this year. Her mother had
retired in December 2012 as a vice principal in a girls’ secondary
school in Enugu.
Chukwuemelie said, “On Friday, the day
of the accident, I saw some missed calls on my phone. When I called the
number back, I realised it belonged to a road safety official.
“He told me the bus my sister and her
family were travelling in developed a fault on the road. He said nothing
more than that. We had no idea they were dead. We did not know the
truth until the following day when my younger brother went to the bus
terminal at Jibowu. I was shattered. Most of the information we got was
from the newspapers.
“Our tragedy was more painful, because
our 81-year-old mother kept asking for them when they did not arrive
that day. We had told her to expect them that Friday. She kept calling,
asking why they were late.”
One can only imagine the feeling of
other family members, whose numbers were listed on the manifest, when
their phones rang and they were informed them about the crash.
James Nwachukwu, 40, got the same call
informing him that his wife, Faith, 34 had been involved an accident. He
was given no further information.
Nwachukwu said he nearly ran mad when he demanded information about the accident and did not get any.
“Faith was my mother, my sister and everything I had,” the grieving man told our correspondent.
When our correspondent called him on the phone, he said he was in a bus, on his way back from the accident site.
“I went to the accident scene, and to
the mortuary where they said some bodies were kept. I was hoping I would
get even bones. But I got nothing. Everything was burnt to ashes. She
was travelling to attend the traditional wedding of her sister,”
Nwachukwu said in a voice choked with emotion.
The grieving husband said when his wife
took the bus, they hugged and Faith said, “Honey, goodbye.” He replied,
“Go in peace dear.”
His wife, who had yet to have a child since they got married in 2010, was listed as number three on the manifest.
For Chief Ikechukwu Ozor, a couple who
died in the crash, Bona and Chidinma Okwor, were so close to him that
they both put his phone number as their contact.
He stated that Bona, 47, and Faith, 39,
embarked on the journey to attend the wedding of a member of Seaboard
Promotions Club, of which they were also members.
Ozor told Saturday PUNCH, “They had been married for more than 10 years and had two boys and a girl. Luckily, they did not travel with their children.
“I have never seen a more godly and
loving couple. They stayed in my house for three years when they first
came to Lagos. That was how close we were. The call I got that they were
involved in an accident and subsequent reports that all occupants burnt
to death was too much for me to bear. It was simply heart-rending.”
He said the couple’s children had been moved to the home of their cousin in Lagos.
However, not all the relations of the victims could summon the courage to speak on the tragedy that had befallen them.
Culled-Punch
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I am speechless...may the souls of those departed rest with God. Amen!
Share your thoughts...thanks!
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