* Says, his daughter was preparing for her master's in UK before crash
By Francesca Iwambe, Abuja
Femi Aina, father of Oreoluwa Aina, a National Youth Service Corps member that died when a Lagos State Government staff bus collided with a train in the PWD area of Lagos State has said that naira scarcity was responsible for her daughter's death.
Aina who was reacting to her daughter's death in an interview over the weekend noted that Oreoluwa boarded the staff bus that fateful day because she had just N200 on her.
He said; “I know she boarded the staff bus, but not every day. If not for this cashless nonsense policy, she would not have followed that bus. But she did not have cash, so she had to follow the bus. She had just N200. They just kill people anyhow in this country”.
On how he received the news of his daughter's demise, Aina said that he was in Abuja watching the television around 9 am when I saw the incident but that he didn't know the daughter was involved.
“I was in Abuja watching the television around 9 am when I saw the incident. An hour after that, I got a call that my daughter was involved in it. That was when I knew what I saw on TV was actually happening to me.
“Then I immediately called my younger brother and sister in Lagos. I later received two more calls in another 10 minutes and by then, she was already in the ICU (intensive care unit). They were attending to her and at the same time calling me from there. I even heard some of the staff members praying for her.
“So, I rushed to the airport to get any available flight back to Lagos but when my plane was ready to take off by 4 pm, I was told that she had passed away”.
He added that 28 year old Oreoluwa was planning to travel to the UK for her Master's programme, and she was already into catering.
“She was part of a thrift society and they even called me from there yesterday to inform me about it. She was saving money to start a mobile food business. Even though she had plans to study more, she was just trying to do things. She was also into music and she recorded in the studio.
“We are a member of The Apostolic Church and she was a staunch member. I learnt she was even the one that led the song last Sunday. She had so many plans and she was just about to fly. It was just this youth service which is mandatory that she wanted to complete and then fly”.
