Residents of Oko-Olowo and Ayelabowo communities in Ilorin South LGA of Kwara State, under the aegis of the Warafanahu Makana Aliyah Joint Community, have appealed to the federal government to construct a flyover at the ever-busy Oko-Olowo Junction on the Ogbomoso-Jebba highway in Ilorin.
City & Crime reports that the call came on the heels of three accidents in two weeks that claimed 25 lives.
Our correspondent reports that on January 2, 2024, a crash involving a DAF truck and a Toyota Hiace carrying 18 people at Aiyere along Bode Saadu-Ilorin Route claimed 11 lives, with seven injured.
A week later, on January 8, 2024, another crash involving four vehicles along Olooru to Okoolowo involving 20 people led to the death of 10 people, including a child.
Similarly, on January 15, 2024, three people were burnt to death along Olooru-Okoolowo Expressway in an accident involving four vehicles.
In a statement, the Chairman of the residents’ association, Mallam Sulyman Ayelabowo, the community expressed concern over the growing loss of lives to accidents in the axis.
The statement reads in part: “This appeal becomes imperative in view of the many lives that have been lost because of various accidents at the junction. This ugly situation is becoming worrisome and is a recurring decimal to the extent that the lives of pedestrians plying the area are not safe.”
