Sallah tragedy: Road crashes kill 19 in Edo, 2 in Ogun

It was a tragic Sallah eve in Edo State, as 19 persons lost their lives in a ghastly road crash at Ugoneki village, located along Benin-Asaba highway, in Uhunmwode Local Government Area of the State.
The incident occurred at about 6 pm on Thursday, when an 18-seater commercial bus, with registration number ABD 206 XA, said to be heading to Auchi, in the nothern part of the State, had a head-on collision with a truck, marked DRZ 347 XA, laden with goat, and heading to Benin.
Reports said 16 of the passengers died at the spot of the incident, three others died at the hospital, while eight other sustained various degrees of injuries. Children were said to be among the dead.
This is as a car plowed into Muslim faithful on a prayer ground at Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, killing two, Friday morning.
The Edo incident, a source in the area, who did not want to be named, disclosed said that members of a family, who were travelling for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration, were among the casualties.
The spokesman for the Edo Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, George Otoaviokhai, who confirmed the incident to journalists on Friday, explained that the bus had attempted to overtake another vehicle in front of it when it rammed into the truck on the other lane.
He attributed the accident to dangerous overtaking, adding that the incident was avoidable.
“There was a vehicle in front of the bus; the bus was trying to overtake. That was not even needed. The accident was avoidable,” he said.
The injured and remains of the deceased were said to have been taken to Aigbogun Clinic in Abudu, in Uhunmwode Local Government Area of the State.
Meanwhile, two people were killed Friday when a vehicle crashed into a large crowd of Muslim worshippers at the Eid-El Kabir prayer ground in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State.
A witness said the driver lost control of the car and plowed into the crowd leaving scores of other worshippers injured.
An angry mob descended on the driver, who was rescued by policemen at the venue.
One of the policemen, Joseph Adejuwon, was ironically mobbed to death as he fought to save the driver.
At the time of filing this report, the driver of the ill-fated vehicle had been arrested, while the injured were taken to hospital.
The Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the dead policeman was an orderly to a Divisional Police Officer (DPO).
Oyeyemi said investigation had commenced into the case.