Oshiomhole, Chime, Mimiko, Olubadan, mourn late journalists

Prominent Nigerians have continued to commiserate with the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) over the death of three of its members in a ghastly auto crash which occurred at about 6p.m last Friday at the Osu Junction near Ilesha in Osun State.

Governors Adams Oshiomhole (Edo), Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) and Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) were among those who sent fresh condolence messages to the union over the catastrophe.

Also, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade I and the National Coordinator of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, have condoled with the families of the deceased and the survivors.

National President of NUJ, Mallam Garba Mohammed, during a press conference in Osogbo on Saturday, said the victims were returning to Lagos from Abuja, where they had attended a national meeting of the union. As gathered, the rear tyre of the vehicle conveying them burst and somersaulted many times before it finally crashed in the bush.

Already, the NUJ has declared a seven-day mourning in honour of the three journalists, who breathed their last in the tragedy. The three, who lost their lives were Adolphus Okonkwo of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Kafayat Odunsi of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Tunde Oluwanike of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).

Ten other journalists in the bus also sustained varying degrees of injury. They include Chairman, NUJ, Oyo State Council, Mr. Gbenga Opadotun; Chairman, NUJ, Lagos State Council, Mr Deji Elumoye; National Financial Treasurer, Mrs. Fatimah Abdulkareem; and Secretary, NUJ, Lagos State Council, Mr. Sylva Okereke. They were rushed to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Osogbo.

Six among the survivors are currently receiving treatment at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, while  two of them were moved to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and the other two to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, in a condolence message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Peter Okhiria, also sympathised with the NUJ over the tragedy.