A tragic road accident has claimed the lives of sixteen prospective corps members from Adeyemi Federal University of Education (AFUED) in Ondo, casting a pall of grief over the institution and the nation.
The students were en route to the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Gombe when the fatal crash occurred.
The victims were traveling in an 18-seater bus, their journey to begin a year of national service abruptly ended.
Two other students from the same institution survived the crash and are currently in critical condition, receiving urgent medical care at a nearby hospital.
Emergency officials were promptly dispatched to the scene to recover the bodies and assist the injured.
While authorities have not yet issued an official statement on the cause of the accident, investigations are underway.
The devastating loss has ignited renewed calls for the federal government to confront persistent road safety failures and re-evaluate NYSC mobilization travel protocols to prevent such a tragedy from recurring.
