The family of Olumioore Johann Barton has lamented his death in Adekunle, Yaba, Lagos, after an auto crash incident. Barton was said to be in the company of four of his friends in two cars, a Mercedes and a Lexus, coming from the Island to Yaba, Lagos, on March 24, 2025, when the vehicle he was inside crashed in Adekunle, Yaba area of Lagos.

Barton, a 500-level student of Surveying and Geoinformatics who was buried on Thursday, March 27, 2025, was said to have died two days after his 26th birthday.

Emergency responders and the Police were said to have rushed to the scene to attend to the victims. The family claimed that his Snapchat account was still active hours after he died and his apartment was left open despite not leaving his door open before he went out with his friends.

A family member, Tolulase Omodele-Rufai, who is one of Barton’s emergency contacts, received a Save Our Soul (SOS) message from his iPhone that reads: “Crash Detected SOS Olumiloore Barton called emergency services from this approximate location after his iPhone detected a crash. You are receiving this message because Olumiloore has listed you as an emergency contact.”

The family said they proceeded to the area and went to Panti where they were handed over the wallet of the deceased and told that his body had been deposited in the morgue but the family was not told the whereabouts of his friends, Gbolahan Fakorede, Ademola and Ebuka.

His aunt, Sore Martins, said Barton was taken to several hospitals, but he was rejected until he gave up the ghost, and his body was deposited at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba by people whose identities are yet to be known.

Another family member, Tolulola Femi-Awokoya, lamented: “My nephew’s death was avoidable. He would be alive today if the government had done what they were supposed to do.

“A young boy died, and the police went to dump the body in the morgue. We wouldn’t have known what happened to him if he hadn’t added my younger sister’s telephone number as his emergency contact number. The police didn’t call us despite having his phone and wallet.

Speaking to The Guardian during candlelight held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), his aunt, Martins, said: “The police were not forthcoming, and after so much back and forth, they handed over his wallet, which had the ID card and his keys, but his bank card had already been removed.

“We were told that he was the only one who died in the incident. LASEMA took him to the hospital, but the hospitals rejected him until he died and was deposited at the mortuary.”

They then sent us to the mortuary.

“The IDH Yaba was being evasive when we got there. We wanted to know who brought him there, but they didn’t tell us.
“The police ought to get a report from the boys who survived, but they failed to do so. Those guys are his schoolmates.”She said on the family’s next line of action: “I will open a police inquiry. So, the police must tell us what happened, and IDH must tell us who took him to the morgue.

“He was not driving; he was on the passenger side. He didn’t die instantly. One of the hospitals claimed they didn’t have a bed, while others rejected him outrightly.”

When The Guardian reached out to one of his friends who survived the accident, Ademola, on the phone, he declined to comment. He said: “I’m sorry. I must decline to comment. I respectfully decline.”When The Guardian reached out to the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, he said he would investigate the matter.