Mr Femi Aina, father of the National Youth Service Corps member, Oreoluwa, who was one of those who died in the Lagos train crash has said that the naira scarcity contributed to the demise of his daughter.

Recall that Thelagostimes had earlier reported that a Lagos State Government staff bus collided with a train in the PWD area of the state, leading to the death of some passengers with many hospitalised after suffering severe injuries.

While speaking with Punch after the incident, Aina disclosed that his daughter did not usually board the staff bus every day.

He added that she boarded the bus on that particular day because she did not have enough cash on her.

“I know she boarded the staff bus, but not every day. If not for this cashless 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,” he told Punch.

Speaking on how he got to know of the incident, he said: “I was in Abuja watching the television around 9am 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 further disclosed that Oreoluwa was to proceed for her Master’s degree programme abroad after the NYSC programme.

“She planned to travel to the United Kingdom 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,” he said.

The father added that even though her daughter had plans to study more, she was also trying to do quite a number of things.

“She was also into music and she recorded in the studio. We are members 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,” the father added.