Oghenetejiri Walter, one of the three Lagos State Polytechnic students who survived a fallen tanker accident in Lagos on Sunday, September 19, 2021 has recounted her experience from the near-death incident.
She told PUNCH that she and her friends were on their way to a food joint from LASPOTECH before the incident happened.
Her words, “On that day, we were all coming from school – Lagos State Polytechnic – and going to a food joint in Surulere. I was telling my friends that I hadn’t eaten ofada rice before and that I hoped my first time would be a nice experience. I was asking them, “What does it taste like?” I had been asking that question out of curiosity even before we got into the cab. So, when we were in the cab, my friend was showing me pictures of ofada rice and other dishes they sell at the restaurant. I rested on her while checking the things on her phone.
“The articulated vehicle was behind us, so we never expected such a thing to happen. But all of a sudden, as if it was hand-picked from somewhere, we just saw the container falling on our cab. It came to us unexpectedly, perhaps if the truck was beside us, we would have told our driver to drive faster and move away quickly. But there was nothing we could do about it, not even our driver could save us, we were all helpless. But thank God that I was not sitting upright because if I was, perhaps, I would have been seriously injured.”
On whether she considered the inevitability of death from the incident, she said, “By the time the container was eventually removed, I was already tired. I could no longer breathe well. Just before then, I had concluded that I had held on for long enough and was tired. My hands dropped like I was surrendering at that point, then in like two seconds, I came alive again.”
She attributed her survival to divine intervention and expressed her gratitude for surviving the incident.
She said, “This is more than a miracle. For each and every one of us that were trapped in that vehicle, our testimony is more than a miracle. Neither us nor the people that were there could actually explain or comprehend what exactly happened to us. It is more than a miracle because the word miracle is too common these days. It is more than a miracle and we are just grateful to God. God shielded us; in fact, I would say God was there with us in the vehicle because how does anyone explain this, that we were all intact despite the magnitude of the incident? When we came out, I was just crying because no one could believe that we were in that crushed car.”
