A devastating road accident on the Oyo-Ogbomoso Road in Oyo State has claimed the lives of at least two Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) candidates and left six others injured. The incident, which occurred on Friday, April 25, 2025, near the Ipeba area, involved a commercial Nissan car carrying students en route to their Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) centers. According to reports, the vehicle crashed into rocks placed as barricades by a construction company, leading to the fatal collision.
Officials from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Oolo Unit responded promptly, evacuating the injured to Bowen University Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso for treatment. The remains of the deceased were deposited at the morgue of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso. A sympathizer at the scene, captured in a video, lamented that the victims were students heading to Ibadan for their exams, highlighting the tragedy’s impact on young lives.
Posts on X expressed widespread grief, with users decrying the recurring accidents on the Oyo-Ogbomoso Road, attributing them to its poor condition and ongoing construction delays. The road, under dualisation with a N147.9 billion federal allocation, has been a concern for years, with stakeholders noting its economic toll on Oyo State.
This tragedy underscores the urgent need for improved road safety and infrastructure. The Oyo State government and federal authorities face mounting pressure to expedite the road’s completion and address hazards like construction barricades. As the nation mourns, calls for accountability and preventive measures grow louder to ensure such losses are not repeated.
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.