By Yisau Babatunde
Anytime he was about to embark on a journey, he loved to sit beside a driver (front seat). Bello Imron Olalekan (not disclosing his course of study and level) felt over the moon as he was resuming back to his school, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS), in February for the 2024/2025 academic session, his facial expression showing it all. Unknowing to him that his journey to school will bring a permanent injury to his body, he held his sweater (because of travelling cold) and his laptop firmly, laughing and gisting with his fellow students about UDUS and its environment, while the bus driver was busy packing their loads in the garage.
On their way to UDUS, after packing their loads, the driver drives the bus with acceleration, which brings joy to many students in the bus—hailing the bus driver. After some miles from Ibadan to Ogbomosho, an unexpected incident knocked down the bus—the bus failed to accelerate as usual, everyone was perceiving the smell of petrol, and the driver suggested stopping at the crowded place. Not long after, the bus was about to explode, and the passengers, including Imran Joy, turned to wailing in agony. After everyone find their way out, the bus exploded.
“I jumped out of the bus, not minding the high risk of it; my fear was to escape the fire that was already consuming the bus with so much force,” he said.
Few sustained injuries, including Imron; he only escaped from the fire, but his left wrist was broken as he jumped out from the bus, though he didn’t notice for a while as he was able to help other passengers in the bus.
“I pay no attention to the roadside gutters I landed on; I know it was a deep one, but also who cares when death is looming around you like UDUS flies? Upon landing, I landed on my left hand, giving me a huge fracture on my wrist. I felt a little pain on my left wrist, but I paid no attention to it.”
Properties Lost, Lives Saved
The explosion kept raging like a fire in the dry season. The bus got burnt down, including the passengers’s properties, which included foodstuffs, gas, and documents, but not all was burnt; some were rescued in the process.
“I lost some properties and still retrieved some properties, but the majority lost their own. For me, I retrieved my bag, which contained all my files, while I lost all my foodstuffs and clothes. We also retrieved a bed and another bag; those are the only three things that were barely retrieved before the total explosion of the bus.”
All the passengers, including the driver, were stranded with no help. “As the fire is burning, some passengers are lamenting over their possessions, such as laptops, documents, and foodstuffs.”
Pain, Begged for Help
After the long day, Imron started feeling an unbearable pain in his broken left wrist. As the pain kept worsening, he cried, begged for help, and called his mummy to inform her about his current situation.
“Hello Mummy, My hand…Our bus, I am in great pain, people have sustained unspeakable injuries, I am scared,” he lamented.
He saw hell and carried the cross of his pain; there was no nearby healthcare center he could run into for treatment.
“Even as we stayed around the incident location till 7pm, I started to feel sharp and unbearable pain in my left wrist, leaving me at a disposition of crying for help; still there wasn’t any close by healthcare, not even talking of a hospital. Those passersby on the highway refused to give help, probably because it was already dark.”
He has lost hope because no help came to his aid—other passengers were also with their crosses; four persons were badly injured, two males and two females. “I got the most deteriorated injury among them because the two females got burnt at their leg ankles, while the remaining male victim tore his leg with a broken glass while trying to escape through the bus window.”
From Road to Hospital
Suddenly, a woman who was resuming back from her office showed a kind gesture to the casualties by taking them with her car to a nearby health center at Ogbomosho. Upon getting there, the other three victims were admitted, but Imran’s situation was different because his hand had already swollen up. He was immediately directed to LAUTECH teaching hospital, where he spent a whole four days.
“At the hospital, I had an x-ray and received water and a series of injections. They cast my fractured hand twice because immediately, the doctor was done the first time, conducted an x-ray, and the result showed that it was not properly placed, making them break it again and cast it again. Even though the result still showed a dislocated location, the doctor suggested surgery is the final solution, which I object to out of financial constraint. All through, I was in deep pain; I cried, but there was no shoulder to rely on. It was a devastating moment for me.”
When Imron was informed about his critical situation, he was unable to move forward to school, so he decided to return home for proper treatment despite paying an amount of ₦100,000 in the hospital.
“At home, my mother did everything possible to make life a little bit easier for me, from cooking to doing my laundry, taking medication at the appropriate time, and stretching the hand with hot water often too.”
Travelling by Road, Shortcut to Heaven
Nigeria has continued to witness a troubling rise in fatalities from road traffic crashes. Several calamities have occurred on the road, and it has claimed innocent lives, including students. Travelling on the road is one of the scariest shortcuts to death. It was revealed by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) that between January and March 2025 (Q1), the FRSC has recorded 2,650 crashes, resulting in 1,593 deaths and 9,298 injuries.
Compared to the same period in 2024, the number of fatalities rose by a staggering 8.3%, signalling an increase in the severity of these accidents. Injuries also jumped by 7.4% within the same period.
Juggling Academic Stress with an Impaired Hand
As he was relieved a little, he returned back to school and registered for his monthly checkup at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH).
“However, combining academic work with a disabled hand is not easy even though it is not the most used hand. Often I shed uncontrollable tears when I am writing and my left wrist is giving me one hell of a pain because of putting it in one stagnant position.”
He had a nightmare with his disabled hand while writing his first semester examination for the 2024/2025 academic session; he wasn’t able to write the examination perfectly.
“During the first semester examinations, the left hand was heavily bandaged; while writing the examinations, my hand will be giving me a hard time with pain while still battling with the question paper in front. I rarely wrote much before I started getting tired, sweating, and feeling dizzy. Only Allah helped me during that period.”
To him, the hand can’t be balanced again because all the necessary steps he took to make it straight proved abortive.
“There is no assurance as to if the hand will be well structured and balanced like the other, but I still wish to give it a try. My parents already had a talk with our family doctor; the surgery, which I will do upon returning home by October,” he concluded.
Dean of Students’ Affairs Advices Students
The students should try to find out the condition of the bus that conveys them to their destination. It’s all for safety measures; life is precious to everyone.
In his words, “It is so disheartening seeing the number of accidents happening to sstudents; it was a daunting eexperience,and I urged every student to ask after the condition of the bus he is getting into.”
To him, those bus drivers are not just ttrustworthy;all they want is the passenger’s money, not their lives, but they forget thinking those students also have families.