The family of a woman who was involved in a bus crash on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is appealing for help to locate her, 12 days after the incident.
Mrs. Beatrice Akinola, a mother of four, was traveling from Ibadan to Badagry with her youngest son on December 28, 2023, when the bus they boarded somersaulted several times and caught fire.
Her son, who is 10 years old, survived the accident and was taken to a hospital in Oyo State, along with three other injured passengers. However, his mother’s whereabouts remain unknown.
A Frustrating Search
Pastor Emmanuel Akinola, the husband of the missing woman, told Punch that he had visited various places, including the scene of the accident, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) office, the police station, and the morgue, but could not find any trace of his wife.
He said he checked the bodies of the five people who died in the accident, but none of them was his wife. He also went to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, where the three critically injured passengers were receiving treatment, but his wife was not among them.
He said he was told that out of the 22 passengers on the bus, only 12 were accounted for, dead or alive. Pastor Emmanuel suspected that some of the passengers might have been taken to other hospitals by passersby before the FRSC officials arrived at the scene.
He said he was not interested in filing a case, but only wanted to find his wife. He urged the authorities and the public to assist him in his search.
A Family Friend’s Plea
A family friend, who identified himself as Felix, also appealed for help, saying that the family was in distress and needed all the support they could get.
He said that Mrs. Akinola was a loving and caring wife and mother, who had been married for over 15 years. He said that her children were eagerly waiting for her return, especially her youngest son, who was traumatized by the accident.
He said that anyone with useful information should contact the family or the nearest police station.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Oyo State Police Command, Adewale Osifeso, was unavailable for comment as of the time of filing this report.
A Hope for Reunion
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is one of the busiest and most accident-prone roads in Nigeria, with frequent cases of crashes, fatalities, and injuries.
The FRSC has advised motorists to drive carefully and obey traffic rules, especially during the festive season, when the road is usually congested.
The Akinola family, however, is not giving up hope of finding their missing loved one. They are praying for a miracle that will reunite them with Mrs. Akinola, who they described as the pillar of their home.
