Driver Bags 10 Years For Manslaughter

A 52-year-old bus driver, Ayobami Ogunsola, was last Tuesday sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for causing the death of a motorcyclist, Mr Tope Durojaiye.

Our correspondent reports that Justice Joseph Oyewole of an Ikeja High Court, Lagos, handed Ogunsola the sentence after finding him guilty of manslaughter.

Ogunsola was arraigned on January 10, 2008 on a two-count charge of manslaughter, and he had pleaded not guilty.

The judge held that the prosecution, led by Mr Femi Adamson, had successfully proved its case against the convict beyond reasonable doubts.

According to Oyewole, it is clear that Ogunsola’s reckless driving at Pleasure Bus-Stop on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway on February 26, 2007 led to Durojaiye’s death.

He said at the time of the accident, Ogunsola drove a Volkswagen bus on high speed, was on the wrong side of the road and faced oncoming traffic.

The judge said: “On sighting LASTMA officials, he panicked and swerved to escape and in the process hit Durojaiye who was on a motorcycle.

“Durojaiye died instantly and the accused ran away to Oke-Odo Police Station to escape being mobbed,” he said.

According to the judge, a killing is manslaughter if it is the result of a grossly negligent act or an omission on the part of the accused.

He said the testimonies of the three prosecution witnesses were not discredited in anyway and were very relevant in the court arriving at its decision.

Oyewole said he could not accept Ogunsola’s explanation who had claimed that he was driving on the right lane and was not on high speed.

The judge said: “They (convict’s statements) were obvious attempts by him to save his skin and seek any possible escape from justice.

“I hold that his action was illegal and totally reckless. I accordingly find the accused guilty as charged on each of the two counts and I hereby convict him as charged on each of the said two counts,” he said.