Members of the National Union of Teachers in Oyo State are mourning the death of three principals and an accountant in the state public secondary schools in a road crash .

No fewer than seven persons, who suffered varying degrees of injury , have also been hospitalised.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the victims were involved in the accident along the Oyo -Ogbomosho road around 5 pm on Wednesday.

They were said to have attended a seminar organised by the state government in Oyo Town and were returning to their respective destinations in Ogbomoso when a tanker rammed into a bus they were in.

It was learnt that the tanker driver veered onto the bus lane in an attempt to dodge a pothole but crashed into the bus.

The three principals, an account clerk, and the bus driver , whose identities had yet to be ascertained, died on the spot , while seven others who were injured , were rushed to the Bowen University Teaching Hospital , Ogbomoso .

“ Five persons, including three principals, an account clerk in one of the public secondary schools and the bus driver , died in the accident .

“ I learnt that one of the deceased principals, Mr. Ogunremi, was supposed to retire in a few weeks ’ time. They were returning from a workshop in Oyo town , ” a source said.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the state , Waheed Olojede , who is also the secretary of the state chapter of the National Union of Teachers , confirmed the fatalities, adding that five others were critically injured .

He blamed the Oyo State Ministry of Education for directing 340 participants from schools in Ogbomoso to travel to Oyo town for the workshop , saying a centre should have been created in Ogbomoso considering the large number .

He said, “ The entire labour movement under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and Joint Negotiating Council , led by Emmanuel Ogundiran and me , have visited the injured victims and families of the deceased .

“ The NUT in the state received the news with rude shock . The NUT and labour movement are worried and disturbed about the wrong decision taken by the education ministry to compel 340 participants from 85 secondary schools in Ogbomoso to attend a workshop in Oyo town when simple reason and logic is supposed to have guided the ministry’ s decision to create a centre in Ogbomoso for the workshop while the facilitators move there .

“ Labour advises that the ministry and other government agencies should always consider the number of participants as a key factor in determining the venue for future workshops .”

Punch

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