Truck Crushes 18 Students, 57 Others to Death in Lokoja - Four killed in Edo accident

Written by This Day Wednesday, 10 March 2010 13:30

Seventy-five persons, including 18 students of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, were yesterday crushed to death in Lokoja by a cement truck belonging to Obajana Cement Factory. Several others sustained varying degrees of injuries.

And in Edo State, four persons were crushed to death on Monday evening at the popular Uselu Market along Ugbowo-Lagos road by a trailer.

The Lokoja accident, which occurred around 2pm at Felele market along Okene/Lokoja/ Abuja road, caused serious commotion within the Lokoja metropolis as people ran helter-skelter to the scene of the accident to ascertain whether their friends and relations who had gone to the market to transact business were involved.

This is the fifth time heavy duty vehicles would be crushing people to death around Felele market as several lives had been lost in the past to similar accidents. The last incident claimed 26 lives.

The driver of the trailer was said to have lost control following a brake failure and ran into about 14 vehicles and five motorcycles before finally running into the market and crushing the victims to death.

Aside the students of Kogi State Polytechnic, who lost their lives in the accident, the other victims were mostly traders and passengers who were in the other vehicles crushed by the trailer.

In venting their anger and displeasure over the incident, students of Kogi State Polytechnic, which is about two kilometres from the accident scene, barricaded the Lokoja/Abuja highway and set up bonfires to disrupt traffic just as they molested and vandalised vehicles along the way.

Reacting to the accident, Governor Ibrahim Idris, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media, Hon. Zachare Adamu, expressed shock and sadness over the incident and prayed that God would grant the departed souls eternal rest.

The Deputy Governor, Dr. Phillip Salawu, who was one of those who arrived the scene early, was prevented from uttering any word by the angry mob who were protesting the increasing rate of accidents on the road leading to the market and what they called government’s lackadaisical attitude towards the slow pace of work on the ongoing dualisation of the Lokoja-Abuja road.
Speaking with journalists later, Salawu described the incident as unfortunate and gave assurances that the state government would ensure that the dualisation of the road is completed on time without further delay.

Among the vehicles involved in the accident is a bus belonging to Faith Travel and Tours with registration number XC 516 DGE and a bus belonging to Anambra Express with registration number XA 710 ACA. The trailer that caused the accident and two others belonging to Obajana Cement, owned by Dangote Industries Plc, were set ablaze by the angry mob.

In Edo State, four persons were crushed to death when a trailer with registration number XG 633 BEN had a break failure.
According to witnesses, the driver of the trailer, in a bid to avert running into the market, swerved to the opposite direction crushing four persons in the process. The driver was said to have sustained serious injuries.