Jonathan support group petitions Uduaghan over seized campaign vehicle

A GROUP, Goodluck Voters Forum (GVF), has petitioned Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, demanding the immediate release of its vehicle, which had a head-on collision with another belonging to Delta Line, the state-owned transport company.

GVF said its vehicle by was detained by the police in Ogwashi Uku, at the behest of the authorities of the transport.

The letter, which was signed Mr. Alfred Doibo, the National Legal Adviser and Alhaji Ahmed Salisu, the National Secretary, explained that a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) of the President Goodluck Jonathan campaign outfit collided with the Delta Line mini-bus along the Ogwashiuku axis of the Asaba-Ughelli road on December 29 last year at about 7.30pm.

They said that the campaign team was led by GVF’s National Coordinator, Mr. Esanerovo Agbodo, who rode in a Mecerdez Benz ML Jeep but was lucky as it took the grace of God for everyone to come out alive without major casualties because it was a head-on collision. GVF offered to repair the company’s vehicle once it was towed out of the police station, but the driver and one of the managers of Delta Line handling the case demanded almost N600,000 for the repairs.

According to the petition, the management of the company disclosed that they would only agree to release the two ill-fated vehicles from the police station on the full payment of the said amount.

As a way out, the petitioners said that the organization offered to pay the money in installments but their plea fell on deaf ears, regretting the attitude of the authorities in the state which is controlled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the cause of Jonathan’s re-election campaign.

They added: “This accident has cost us a lot in terms of executing our campaigns on behalf of Mr. President, because our National Coordinator and others are still receiving treatment from the injuries sustained in the accident, and secondly the vehicle which was designated to be used to coordinate our campaigns in the South-South is still holed up in the police station.

“We want His Excellency to intervene by reaching out to the Delta Line management on our behalf to release our vehicle to us. If possible, we will also appreciate donations and more cars from the Delta State Government to support our campaigns as we are also working for PDP candidates in the State to win their elections.”

Delta Line spokesman, Mr. Victor Chima, disclosed that the company has a comprehensive insurance policy because of the high risk involved in transportation business.

Chima said: “We realize that because of the occupational hazard involved in transportation business, only a comprehensive policy is the best option so that in the event of a fatal crash, you can re-coup a reasonable compensation. We have two angles to our comprehensive insurance cover. One is for vehicles which are directly purchased by the company in which case we facilitate the comprehensive insurance policy while the other is for vehicles purchased in partnership with the company if form of franchise.”

Following the admission by the Public Relations Officer, Doibo and Salisu wondered what then happened to the company’s comprehensive insurance policy which is supposed to enable the insurance company repair the two damaged vehicles.

The duo added: “Also, we discovered that irrespective of the insurance policy of the transport line, drivers of their vehicles involved in any accident normally bear the cost individually through deductions from their salaries. The question is whose pocket is the money they are demanding from us entering?”