by Lekan Olanrewaju

Governor of Edo state, Professor Adams Oshiomole, was on Saturday involved in a car crash which claimed the lives of three journalists and left several others seriously injured. The former head of the Nigerian Labour Congress has now spoken out, insinuating that the occurence was an attempt on his life.

“They were just inside the vehicle, they were not carrying anything, they were not carrying any goods.” he said on Sunday in Benin. “We asked the other occupant about the driver, he said he didn’t know, he just ran into the bush. He stayed in the bush until after we had left and those who were still around the scene saw him when he was trying to run away after we had left.”

“If I was in the regular jeep he could have hit me because I was driving a small car which I decided to drive myself, if I was in that car, it could have been my lot, he pushed that car off the road and then crashed into the one the journalists were driving in.”

“It is a straight road and not a bend, so if he was losing control he could have swerved into the bush.” he continued. “When I asked the guy where is the driver, he said he opened the door of the vehicle and left, he claimed the driver just said he should follow him. I asked him, you are not under 18 and somebody just tells you, ‘follow me and then the man passed his town passed another and went into another local government and you still did not ask questions?’

“Well, we’ve asked the SSS and the police to investigate. Then, before we knew anything, the PDP was already issuing a condolence message.

“Although we’ve been hearing all kinds of things but the blood of those dead guys will not go in vain. We will get justice for them and more importantly those who thought that our fighting spirit will be weakened are joking, because we are challenged the more.”

“For about 40 minutes we were trying to get them out, but God is in control, I believe the devil s a liar,” he said, referring to rescue attempts on those trapped in vehicles after the accident.

The Peoples Democratic Party spoke out, expressing shock at what they viewed as accusations from the governor.

“My first reaction is that I am indeed taken aback that the governor is pointing accusing fingers at the PDP.” said Matther Uroghide, Publicity Secretary of the state chapter of the party. “It is sad that at a time the state is mourning the death of journalists, the governor is trivialising the matter by playing politics with the lives of those who died.”