GUO Comforts Passengers over Owode Crash
Dr. Cosmas Maduka, President and CEO of Coscharis Group, one of Nigeria’s leading conglomerates, was recently recognised as the numero uno Investor of the Year in Nigeria during the recently held Sun Award 2017 ceremony in Lagos.
This was in recognition of his doggedness in building Coscharis Group into a household brand from scratch and contributing immensely towards economic growth in Nigeria and in the area of job creation.
In receiving the Sun’s Investor of the Year award, Dr. Maduka described it as a prized recognition for his struggles and challenges over the years which he had turned to opportunities to build a timeless organisation.
According to the organisers of the award, The Sun Publishing Limited, Dr Maduka had built a global brand with a local brand name in Coscharis having secured the confidence of globally respected auto brands with exclusive franchises of brands as BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, MINI and Rolls Royce over the years as their representative in Nigeria.
The management of G.U.O. Transport Services Ltd, has reacted to the accident involving one of its luxury buses last week at Owode-Elede in Lagos, saying it was unfortunate and saddening. The company said it sympathises with the affected passengers and their relations for the inconveniences and losses suffered in the crash.
A survivor of the accident recounted that the Lagos-bound bus which departed Aba Thursday at about 8:00 pm, hit a concrete demarcation on the road early Friday morning at Owode and ran into the nearby river resulting in the death of three passengers.
The rest of the occupants of the 59-seater vehicle survived with a few rushed to hospitals for the treatment of injuries.
Reacting to the incident, the Managing Director of GUO Transport, Mr. Maduabuchi Okeke, expressed the company’s gratitude to the first responders at the scene, for the efficient and professional manner they handled the situation.
“Prompt response by the agencies, including the Federal Road Safety Corps {FRSC}, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), the Police, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and other, agencies, helped in the rescue of many of the passengers”, Okeke remarked.
The Managing Director disclosed that as soon as the company was informed of the incident, mobilised a team which joined the agencies to ensure that the injured received adequate medical attention.
“We at G.U.O. Transport wish to express our utmost sympathy and regret for the distress experienced by the passengers and their families as a result of the accident involving our luxury bus”, the Managing Director stated, appealing to them to “bear with us during this sad period”. Okeke said it was premature to comment on the cause of the crash, preferring to rather wait for “the report and updates from investigations by the agencies”
However, a survivor of the accident, Mr. Kenneth Aaron, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria {NAN}, said the accident may have been caused by a slippery surface.
His account: “I entered the bus in Onitsha with four of my brothers. The bus passed through Ikorodu because of the ongoing construction on Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
“It seemed an accident happened in the area before which spilled diesel onto the road.