James Ocholi (SAN), Nigeria’s Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, his wife Blessing and their son yesterday died in a ghastly motor accident on their way from Kaduna to Abuja after attending a church programme in Kaduna.
The accident was said to have occurred in a village called Rijana, which is about 55 kilometres from Kaduna, resulted from a tyre burst as they drove in their Lexus Jeep LX570.
According to eye witness at the scene of the accident, the vehicle somersaulted several times and finally landed in the bush, that the minister and his son reportedly died instantly while the wife, who fell into coma, later died in the hospital where all efforts to resuscitate her failed after sustaining internal injury.
Acording to a witness, Danladi Ayuba, “I was by the road side when all of a sudden I heard a loud sound which, I thought, was a bomb, only to discover that it was a noise from a burst tyre. Then I saw a black jeep somersaulting and it landed in the bush after it somersaulted several times.”
“By the time we got there, we discovered that the minister and another person discovered later to be his son were already dead; in fact, we thought the wife, too, died then because she was not breathing, but they were rushed to Doka General hospital where the wife gave up the ghost.
“It was a bad experience. This road has some bad potholes that really need to be fixed to avoid this kind of accident because, to me, I suspect the vehicle may have entered one of those bad pot holes leading to the tyre burst,” he said.
At the Doka General Hospital where the victims were taken to, a medical personnel at the hospital confirmed to our correspondent that “ the minister and the son were brought in dead while five others were brought in alive, but the wife of the minister sustained internal injuries and efforts to resuscitate her failed and she also died while being resuscitated.
“Others who were brought in here, who sustained various degrees of injuries, include the personal assistant, the driver, orderly and one other person.”
The medical officer, who will prefer anonymity, gave their names as Isaac Adaji, Abdullahi Sunday, Tairow James and Benjamin Ikocha, plus the wife of the minister.
When contacted, Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, Abubakar Zubairu, also confirmed the accident and deaths of the minister, wife and son.
At the Rijana police station, the heavily damaged Lexus jeep was seen packed within their premises.
The remains of the minister, wife and son were moved to the National Hospital, Abuja, while those who sustained injuries were equally moved away from the Doka General hospital after they had received first aid treatment.
Meanwhile, Kaduna State Government has expressed deep shock at the death of the minister and members of his family.
In a statement issued by the spokesperson to the governor, Samuel Aruwan, he said, “The state government extends its heartfelt condolences to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Ocholi family.
“Our condolence also goes to the members of the Federal Executive Council and the entire nation. The minister died at a critical time of contributing his quota in the ongoing national rebirth and the realisation of the Change Mantra.”
He prayed God Almighty to grant their souls eternal rest.
The body of the late minister’s wife was brought about one hour, thirty minutes later.
While speaking with journalists at the National Hospital premises, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir David Lawal, confirmed that the three family members were killed in the crash at about 3pm.
“I will like to confirm that at about 3pm today (Sunday). The Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi (SAN) was involved in a motor accident along Kaduna-Abuja road. In this accident, the minister lost his life, his son also lost his life, and the wife also lost her life.” He said
“It is a very sad day indeed for Nigeria, as this has never happened. President Muhammadu Buhari is in shock; all members of the Federal Executive Council are in shock and in deed all Nigerians are in shock.
“The president wants us to extend his condolence to Nigerians, the people of Kogi State and the immediate family of James Ocholi. Personally I have known Ocholi for more than 20 years. We have been friends, both in politics and in Christian service. And I am indeed personally saddened by this and cannot begin to express the grief that we all face.
“Now the bodies have been recovered and deposited in the mortuary and we are waiting for the immediate family and the government for the next line of action. May God comfort all of us Nigerians.”
