The Nigerian Medical Association in Ekiti State, on Wednesday held the third year memorial service for six doctors who died in an accident that occurred on Kaduna – Sokoto Road in 2016, saying the circumstance of their death necessitated urgent intervention in the prevention of unnecessary deaths on roads.

 

The Chairman of the association, Dr Tunji Omotayo, lamented that three years after, the road where the incident occurred still remained a menace to many innocent road users.

 

The doctors who died in the accident were Dr Tunde Aladesanmi; Dr Olufemi Taiwo; Dr Babatunde Ogunseye; Dr Alex Akinleye; Dr Olajide Olayiwola; and Dr Atolani Adeniyi. The Ekiti NMA driver, Mr Ajibola Olowookere, also lost his life in the accident.

 

Omotayo said, “I would like to seize this opportunity to reiterate the need for emergency ambulance services on all the major highways in the country. There is also a need for well-equipped regional trauma centres across the country”.

 

He said the ambulance services and trauma centres were necessary as “most of the lives lost on the roads could have been prevented. If these facilities had been in place, one of the doctors could have gotten medical attention and be saved from death.”

 

The families and friends of the late doctors, as well as medical practitioners in the state attended the memorial service to celebrate the life and times of departed colleagues who they described as “unforgettable”.

 

Recalling the event that led to the doctors’ death, Omotayo said: “They were looking forward to an exciting journey on that fateful day. The journey appeared to be unremarkable until tragedy struck. The pillar of our dear association shook to its foundation. We and the families of our dear heroes were traumatised and stung beyond consolation. I salute those who stood by us during that period.”

 

He lauded NMA’s National President, Dr Francis Faduyile, and his predecessor, Prof. Mike Ogirima, for “the fulfillment of the endowment fund in honour of our departed colleagues. “The fund has since been disbursed to the individual endowment account created in their honour.”

 

Faduyile led medical practitioners in the state to lay wreaths on the gravesites of the six doctors and the driver in the premises of the NMA along Ado – Iyin Road.