Prospective Corps Member Dies, Others Injured In Ebonyi Accident

A prospective female member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) lost her life in a fatal road accident that occured on Wednesday in Ebonyi State.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the deceased was among a group of 12 prospective corps members in a 14-seater bus involved in the accident.

Confirming the incident, the Ebonyi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Igwe Henry however, said he had no details of casualties as the victims were rescued before his officers got to the accident scene.

“At the time our men from Amasiri Unit Command got the information and got to the scene, the victims had been rescued. They didn’t directly carry out the rescue, and therefore, could not ascertain specifics of what happened.

“However, the crash occurred on 22nd January about 1400 hours. The route was Amasiri-Okiigwe, where they call Amenu village in Okposi,” he said.

Henry explained that, “Two vehicles were involved, one was a Toyota commercial bus, grey color, and the other was a Mercedes-Benz tipper(truck), a commercial Mercedes-Benz tipper, the regular Tipper that you see around.”

Speaking on the cause of the crash, the Sector Commander cited preliminary findings, attributing the incident to excessive speed on the part of the commercial bus.

“But the details as to the number injured and so on have not been ascertained, because like I said, the victims were actually rescued by bystanders and then taken to David Umahi Hospital in Uburu.

“And then, the items recovered at the scene, I understand, is in the custody of one Chief Amos of Amenu village in the same Oposi.”

He added that victims seen by officials of the FRSC at the King David’s Hospital were in stable condition.

When contacted, Ebonyi State Coordinator of NYSC, Foluke Oladeinde also confirmed the accident. “I am not in a right frame of mind to talk now. I am in the hospital now. Yes the accident occured but I can’t talk right now”, she said.

A sources who spoke to LEADERSHIP said the corps members boarded the bus in Enugu on Wednesday and were heading to the NYSC Orientation Camp located in Afikpo town, Afikpo local government area for their three weeks oriental course when the incident occurred.

Victims are believed to be prospective members of the 2024 Batch C Stream II set of corps members who resumed camp same day.

This newspaper gathered from a source that the Enugu North Mass Transit bus rammed into a parked truck beside the road.

The female corps member, whose name could not be ascertained, was said to have died from her injuries while her colleagues and other passengers sustained various degrees of injuries.