Oladipo Ademuyiwa, a professor of biochemical toxicology at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), was about to cross the Wole Soyinka-Kemta-Idi-Aba-Somorin Road in Ogun State on Sunday when a speeding vehicle hit him.
He did not survive the hit.
Abeokuta residents have stated that the death of the professor, and many other fatal and minor accidents on the route, would have been avoided if the government had heeded the community’s cries to install speed breakers and other safety measures.
On Tuesday, two days after the killing of Professor Ademuyiwa, the Ogun State Government said it was not to blame for the death “caused by a reckless hit-and-run driver who did not comply with traffic rules and regulations”.
‘Don’t Blame Ogun Govt for Recklessness of Hit-and-Run Driver’The Ogun State Government said it cannot be blamed for the death of a resident of Wole Soyinka-Kemta-Idi-Aba-Somorin road, Prof. Oladipo Ademuyiwa, caused by a reckless hit-and-run driver.The government noted that… pic.twitter.com/U3u2Tnep17— Ogun State Government – OGSG (@OGSG_Official) February 18, 2025
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A statement signed by Kayode Akinmade, the Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun, reads in part: “Just last December, in response to the call of the communities in the area, the government installed a total of 11 speed breakers in addition to the one earlier installed on the road. This is apart from other relevant road signs that have been strategically placed to guide drivers and other commuters plying the road.”
When FIJ messaged Ade Akinsanya, the Ogun Commissioner for Works, for comments on Wednesday morning, he simply wrote: “The state already responded. There are speed humps on the road.”
Although the state government is insisting that it already installed speed breakers on the road network to improve safety conditions, FIJ gathered that the portion of the road where Ajebo Road Housing Estate, Kemta, is situated lacks speed bumps.
Sources told FIJ that the estate used to be a closed residential estate before the state government opened it up and constructed a road network that connects to another community.
Under a post on the X page of the Ogun State Government (OGSG), containing the press statement issued by the SSA to the governor, FIJ found a series of comments confirming the dangerous state of the road.
The part of the 7.3 kilometre Wole Soyinka-Kemta-Idi-Aba-Somorin road with speed breakers installed, whose pictures, the government posted alongside the statement, covers Ilugun, not the stretch of the road leading to Ajebo Estate.
This leaves the abandoned part of the road network vulnerable to fatal and minor accidents. A source, who does not want to be named, told FIJ that some government officials visited the estate on Tuesday and identified at least 12 areas in need of speed breakers and other safety interventions.
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Speaking with FIJ, Richard Oje (name changed), a member of the Ajebo Road Housing Estate Community Development Association, said the estate used to be a closed one until the government’s road construction opened it up to more motorists.
“When they fixed the road, we were all happy about it. However, we put a caveat. We told them not to remove our estate gate, but they removed it and made our security porous,” said Oje.
He said the compromised security has led to an increase in reported cases of burglaries and accidents, with some claiming lives and others leaving residents injured.
“A vehicle coming from Ibadan and going to Abeokuta town will pass through that place. We don’t have a problem with that, but we expected the government to put speed breakers to caution the recklessness of some drivers,” Oje told FIJ.
“In addition to that, we believe strongly that the road (in the estate) is not meant for big lorries. But the road has now become a thoroughfare for them. Instead of passing through the normal major road, they all pass through that place.
“We now see cases of trailers entering people’s houses. We have written letters to the government and its agencies on this. Only God knows what we have done for them in this estate. When they installed speed breakers for the people in Ilugun, we thought it would extend to us, who had been writing letters and reaching out to the government, but nothing was done.”
FIJ obtained a letter dated July 14, 2022, in which the community urged the state ministry of works to install speed breakers right from the main entrance of the housing estate to the Wole Soyinka Junction to prevent fatalities on the road.
Three years later, residents are mourning the avoidable death of a community member who got killed on that end of the road network.
FIJ also got pictorial evidence of some of the accidents on the same road in over a year. Some of the pictures can be accessed via this Google Drive file.
The July 2022 letter.
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‘We Are Mourning’
Oje disclosed that the FUNAAB professor was on his way home from Ibadan when the road accident that took his life happened.
The vehicle hit him from behind while he was attempting to cross the road.
“The man was walking down to get to a safe place, and a vehicle hit him from behind and abandoned the man to die,” Oje added.
According to him, the residents were still mourning the professor’s death. He described the victim as a committed member of the estate community.
“The residents are mourning. We are all very sad that one of our key members, a community person committed to community efforts, was the one whose life was sacrificed for this. We are mourning,” Oje told FIJ.
Deceased professor Oladipo Ademuyiwa
To prevent further accidents and near-fatal encounters on the road, the community wants the state government to urgently install speed breakers along the Wole Soyinka Road.
They also want a lorry barrier to restrict heavy vehicles, clear traffic signage to caution motorists against reckless driving and stricter laws to curb excessive speeding within the estate.
Abimbola Abatta is a reporter with FIJ, writing reports in partnership with Report for the World which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.
The post Hit-And-Run Driver Kills FUNAAB Prof on Road Ogun CDA Begged Govt to Make Safe for 3 Years appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.