There was pandemonium this along
the Calabar-Ikom Highway when a Mack 911 truck with registration number FKJ 505
XC crushed four young boys to dead leaving six others fatally injured at Awi,
Akamkpa LGA of Cross River State.
The youths from Mbarakom
community were said to be jogging at about 6am this morning in front the Cross
River State College of Education when the unfortunate incident occurred. More after the cut:
An eye witness, Miss Ekam
Emmanuel says, “As early as 6:00am when I came to clean my
shop, on reaching I met the youths jogging on the highway but suddenly a 911
truck coming from Calabar on high speed from afar was horning for the youths to
clear the road but unfortunately, they were late to clear before we knew the
truck had already climbed on four that died on the spot. As a result, the
Mbarakom youths got angry, the truck driver and his conductor; when they
stopped to see what has happened; were pounced on by the youths.
“The driver and the conductor
were seriously beaten and the truck set ablaze immediately, another truck with
the plate number Cross River, KAM 45 XA coming to pass through to Calabar was
forcefully stopped, the driver and others seriously beaten but they managed to
escape and the truck also set ablaze. The same thing happened to the Audi
driver whose car was burnt also. The scene was bloody if not for the army and
policemen that came to calm the situation and
eventually got the situation under
control”.
Police Constable Eric Bassey of
the traffic department, Nigeria Police Force, Akamkpa Division told
CrossRiverWatch that “It was around 5am when the DPO was informed by someone
that there’s a riot going on in Awi which at once he gave us the green light to
delve into the matter.
“On reaching the scene we
discovered that three vehicles were burnt and we discovered that some
casualties were there and some dead but immediately we tried to recover the
bodies of those dead and those injured for quick medical attention, so we moved
swiftly to Mbarakom where we were informed that a driver was held hostage and
was beaten badly, we went and successfully recovered him alongside with others
and they were taken to the General Hospital Akamkpa where they are receiving
medical attention”.
He further disclosed that when
the Police got to Mbarakom, the youths exchanged some gun fire with them but no
life was lost. He assured that the Police have move into action to restore
peace and order in the affected community.
Comrade Nwankwo Isaiah the
brother to the conductor of the truck that claimed the lives of four Mbarakom
youths said,
“I was called by my boy being the conductor that if I don’t come
and meet him in Awi at once he will be killed, when I got there he was
seriously assaulted because of an accident. He and the driver were assaulted
with machete but not for good spirited individuals and men of the Nigeria
police force that intervened. I am deeply surprise because we don’t leave in a
lawless society were such inhumane treatment will be meted on them instead”.
When CrossRiverWatch visited the
scene of the accident, bodies of the injured had been evacuated but the charred
remains of the two trucks that were burnt as well as an Audi car were still on
the road. At the Akamkpa General hospital, the injured victims were already
receiving treatment.
Some of those at the hospital
include: Mr. Chidi Duruba, the conductor of the truck, Miss. 81 year old
Blessing Etim, one of the Mbarakom youth who was also seriously injured, the
driver of the killer truck, Mr. Edwin Oragunye and a police man attached to the
Quick Intervention Squad Sunday Ottor.
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