Another scene of the Akwa Ibom accidentThree persons, among them a lawyer, have been killed while others were critically injured when an articulated vehicle carrying flour rammed into shops at Utu Etim Ekpo, the headquarters of Etim Ekpo local government area of Akwa Ibom State.
A resident of the area, Gabriel Akpan, who spoke to LEADERSHIP, said the sad incident occurred at about 8pm on Monday when the truck fleeing some bribe-taking personnel pf the Nigerian Army who mounted roadblock at the Nkwot Ikot Ebo portion of the Iwukem – Etim Ekpo – Abak Road, lost control and rammed into the shops, killing the victims instantly.
“The truck loaded with flour was coming from the Iwukem axis of the road towards Abak and was flagged down by soldiers mounting roadblock at Nkwot Ikot Ebo, but the driver refused to stop.
“The soldiers then pursued and overtook, but the driver again refused to stop. The soldiers scampered away as the truck continued with speed towards and descended the slop towards the roundabout, but couldn’t navigate away with speed,” Akpan said.
Another resident, Eno Umanah who is a motorcyclist around the council secretariat recalled, “The driver then lost control and veered off the road into several makeshift shops by the motor park, and crashed, killing the unsuspecting victims suddenly.”
For Akaninyene Umanah, a resident of the LGA, the road has claimed over 70 lives, including about 40 church worshippers who were returning from a church convention, aside from commercial busses and motorcyclists.
Another indigene of the LGA, who would not want his name in print recalled that; “I talked about that roundabout years ago, and I was accused of insulting the elders of Etim Ekpo.”
He said the roundabout needed to be removed from that place or a properly one constructed as replacement to save people’s lives, saying, “If you are coming from the Stadium to that roundabout, it’s very risky, due to the sloppy nature of that portion of the road. I hope this is taken seriously.”
The Public Relations Officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state, John James promised to reach back to our correspondent with update as soon as he reached the office.
