No fewer
than seven persons have been killed in a multiple auto crash in the Ewu Hill
end of the Benin-Auchi Expressway, in the Esan Central Local Government Area of
Edo State.
It was
gathered that 13 other people also sustained varying degrees of injury during
the accident, which involved a commercial bus, two articulated trucks laden
with cement and several other vehicles.
The Public
Relations Officer of the state command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr.
George Otoaviokhai, confirmed the incident on Sunday.
Otoaviokhai
stated that the fatal crash occurred on one of the lanes of the road at about
11am on Saturday.
He explained
that tragedy struck when the bus ran into one of the trucks, after “the brakes
failed.”
Five of the
victims were said to have died on the spot, while two others died on their way
to a hospital.
The accident
was said to have grounded traffic for several hours before the intervention of
the operatives of the FRSC.
Otoaviokhai
said, “It is possible that the crash was caused by brakes failure and speed
violation. Thirty-eight people were involved actually. Thirteen were injured.
Seven (persons) died – six males and one female.”
He added
that while the remains of the victims were deposited in the St. Lazarus
Mortuary, those who were injured were taken to Hope Clinic at Jattu, in the
Etsako West Local Government Area of the state.
Meanwhile,
some gunmen have killed a youth leader, identified simply as Paragi, and a
lawyer, Mfon Etukudo, in the Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
Paragi, who
hailed from Nkek village, was said to have been shot dead on Saturday at about
6pm.
Etukudo from
Idung Nneke village was reportedly murdered on Sunday.
A source
said a leader of a rival cult ordered the killing of Paragi because he was
scared of his rising profile.
He said,
“Paragi was a popular youth leader in Ukanafun. Paragi was also the leader of a
cult. The leader of the rival cult ordered his killing.”
Details on
the killing of the lawyer were sketchy as of press time.
The Police
Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom, Mr. Chukwu Ikechukwu, confirmed the
killings.
“Policemen
are on the ground; they are doing everything to restore normalcy to the area.
“Efforts are
in top gear to trace killers of the two men. So, we are not going to relent in
our efforts to nab the assailants,” he said.
Meanwhile,
the Akwa Ibom State Police has arrested eight persons suspected to be the
killers of the late Ukanafun LGA secretary, Mr. Ime Atakpa.
The state
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Donald Awunah, said on Friday that the suspects
confessed that they were sponsored by a politician in the Ukanafun LGA.
Awunah said
the suspects had been charged to court for conspiracy and murder of Atakpa.
Atakpa was
killed on April 16, 2017, in his poultry at Ikot Udo Obodo village, in the
Ukanafun LGA.
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