My daughter has escaped death two times – Mother of only survivor of Ogun crash

Firstclass newsline~Adjusting herself gently on the tiny hospital bed
as visitors after visitors trooped in to offer their heart-felt
condolences at the female ward of the Babcock University Teaching
Hospital, Ilishan, Ogun State, on Thursday afternoon, 17-year-old
Ibukun Akinbo, knew she could have been in a worse place – lifeless at
the morgue or six feet below the ground. But by sheer luck and divine
providence, she had survived a fatal accident last week Friday albeit
with injuries and scars that would be a constant reminder of that
close shave and miraculous escape.
Leaving Ago-Iwoye, a sleepy community in Ogun State hosting the famous
Olabisi Onabanjo University, that morning together with her cousin,
Yetunde Aribilola – a 100-level student of Bio-Chemistry at the
institution enroute Lagos where their families lived, Akinbo, who is
studying Chemical Science at the same school, was looking forward to
being welcomed later that day by her mother, Titilayo, and 14-year-old
sibling-David. The bus they boarded throttled calmly until they got to
Ilisan Junction along the Sagamu-Benin Expressway where things
suddenly went awry.
A truck carrying a 40ft container that was driving against traffic
lost control and rammed into their bus, emptying its heavy baggage on
them. It was a few seconds of chaos and wild screaming– one that has
left deep scars in many families and the Ogun university community.
Yetunde, seven other students of the institution together with four
other passengers lost their lives in the tragedy. Akinbo's survival
defies every explanation especially having occupied the front seat of
the vehicle.
"We boarded the bus at the Chips motor park in Ago Iwoye. The bus was
filled and I sat in front together with my cousin, Yetunde. The
journey was smooth till we got to Ilisan Junction. It was while the
bus was descending the slope that the truck carrying a container and
driving against traffic faced us.
"When our driver saw the truck, he tried to manoeuvre out of danger
but the truck kept turning towards us. We were all screaming until
everything went blank. I was flung out of the bus into the bush and
became unconscious.
"I don't know how I got into the bush because given the position I saw
the bus when I regained consciousness, I was not supposed to be there.
In fact, surviving the crash was a miracle. I believe God spared my
life for a purpose. It was my cousin's name that I was calling that
attracted a passerby who heard my faint voice and located me in the
bush. I could have been bitten by a dangerous snake, because I was
already weak," Akinbo recalled emotionally. She was rushed to a
private hospital in one of the sympathisers' vehicles, accompanied by
a female police officer. Ibukun suffered injuries to her head, left
arm and leg.
Fighting back tears as she recounted the deadly experience, the
17-year-old gave a chilling insight into events leading to the fatal
accident.
Ibukun believes Yetunde had a premonition of the tragedy. Her
behaviour, she said, was a bit strange that morning.
"That morning, I was the one who woke her up from bed, but strangely,
she was reluctant to get up. But after some time, she stood up from
the bed and went to take her bath after which we set out for the motor
park.
"Yetunde liked sitting by the door in the front seat. We both sat in
the front seat but then she allowed me sit by the door instead without
protesting. Everything seemed as if she knew her time had come. It is
unfortunate we lost her and other students of our institution," she
said.
Titilayo, mother of the lone survivor, told firstclass newsline that
her daughter's escape remains a miracle. The single mother, who
received a call informing her of the tragedy at about 12:30pm on the
fateful day, said the news changed everything around her.
"The male voice said my daughter was involved in a fatal accident
along Sagamu-Benin Expressway. I threw off the phone on hearing this
and hit myself on the ground. It was my colleague that picked the
phone and related the rest of the story to me. Immediately I told her
uncle what happened, we headed for Sagamu. First, we went to Fakoya
Hospital where I saw Yetunde's picture. She was my aunt's daughter.
They took the pictures of all those who died and displayed them. She
suffered a big gash on her head and a cut in one of the hands.
Ibukun's survival was a miracle because both of them sat in the front
seat. She could have been gone by now," she said.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that Akinbo would be
breaking loose from the claws of death. As an infant still in the
womb, her journey to earth could have ended in tragedy if not for
God's mercies. Her mother endured a prolonged labour period after
something went wrong on the day she was to give birth to her. She
remains a living testimony of God's matchless grace.
"There was something unique about her birth. I went into a prolonged
labour when I was about giving birth to her. The labour lasted from
about 7:00pm in the night till around 3:00pm the next day. Her head
could be seen but she did not come out. The doctor gave me a drip,
assuring that the baby would come out once I finished taking it. The
doctor later concluded that I should be moved for a Caesarean Section.
"But after giving it a thought, he stopped, wore his gloves and
decided to pull the baby out with his hands. That was when he
discovered that the umbilical chord had entangled the baby's neck and
stopped it from coming out. The chord was tightly woven around her
neck and could have stopped her from breathing. The doctor had to cut
it to free the baby. Ibukun could have died even before setting foot
on earth," Titilayo told one of our correspondents as tears slowly
gathered in her eyes.
As the day ticked by and more visitors trooped into the ward where the
young woman laid, a soft, solemn voice warmed up the ambiance
suddenly. It was the voice of a victor praising God with the little
strength left in her arsenal – the voice of a miraculous escapee, one
that has trashed death twice at just 17, inspiring a remarkable
survival story rare in every sense of the word.
While families of the dead and the university community in Ogun
grapple with the massive loss that the latest tragedy left them,
Ibukun has only one wish: "I want the government to restrict the
movement of trailers to a specific period in the day and they should
also be restricted to their own dedicated lanes. Any of them who
violates this rule should be sanctioned."
Deaths occasioned by trucks carrying loaded and heavy containers have
become a prominent feature in most parts of Nigeria in recent times.
While families of those affected had clamoured for a legislation to
curb this phenomenon, the authorities have simply looked the other
way, leaving many vulnerable citizens at the mercy of these
'monsters.' Ibukun's survival remains the only consolation from a
bloody and regrettable carnage that greeted the nation one week ago.
Firstclassnewsline.net