The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Wednesday identified excessive speed, burst tyre and sudden application of brake as factors responsible for the auto crash that claimed the lives of Barrister James Ocholi, his wife Blessing and son.
Ocholi, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, died in the crash at kilometre 34, on the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, near Rijana village, on Sunday.
FRSC’s Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi made these known while presenting an interim report on the auto crash to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Abuja.
According to Oyeyemi, Ocholi’s driver, Taiwo James Eleghede, has no record of a valid driver’s licence in its drivers’ data base, while Ocholi and his son, who did not use the seat belts, were forcibly ejected, when their vehicle somersaulted.
“The ejection of the minister and his son, who occupied rear seats confirmed the fact that their rear seat belts were not in use and, on the contrary, the driver and the orderly survived because the front seat belts were used.
“There was no record on the drivers’ licence National Data Base of the driver of the Hon. Minister with the name, Taiwo James Eleghede. However, there was record found on the driver’s licence National Data Base of the driver of the Hon. Minister’s back-up vehicle with the name Ibrahim Abubakar.
“Information gathered revealed that the driver of the crashed vehicle was actually moving at excess of the stipulated speed when he had a tyre burst.
“The weather and vehicle’s mechanical conditions did not contribute to the break-crash factors that led to the occurrence of this crash.
“Although there exists a pothole at the crash vicinity, its existence and the road reconditioning were not contributory factors. Though it lacks speed limit informative signs and speed surveillance cameras to caution and deter speeding motorists.
“The crash vehicle driver was driving too fast and he slammed on the brake too hard.
“These two factors materially contributed to the inability of the driver to maintain control when the left rear tyre burst.’’
According the Corps Marshal, the tyres of the crashed vehicle were not properly fixed and no proper alignment.
He said that the inability of the minister’s driver to maintain the directional control of his vehicle when the tyre burst led to the fatal crash of the vehicle.
The corps marshal stated that ten persons were involved in the crash with three people killed, five sustained various degrees of injuries and the remaining two persons escaped the crash unhurt.
Oyeyemi, who commiserated with the members of the Federal Executive Council and Nigerians over the accident, commended President Buhari’s exemplary conduct of his convoy.
He urged members of the cabinet, heads of agencies and government officials to emulate the President.
-NAN
