Three die in multiple road accidents

• Truck runs over motorcyclist, passenger in Abeokuta
• Two die as passenger boat capsizes in Rivers

Three persons at the weekend lost their lives in a multiple crash that occurred at Ewu-Auchi axis of the Benin-Okene-Lokoja road on Saturday.Confirming the sad incident, the Edo State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Anthony Okoh, disclosed that a total of eight vehicles were involved in the crash.

According to Okoh, “it was a multiple crash incolving eight vehicles. Ten persons were injured and three others died.”He said his officials were on ground timely to carry out rescue operation to forestall more casualties.“My officials were there within two minutes of the accident to carry out rescue operation. I was also there to make sure that obstructions were cleared off the road.”He called on the Federal Government and the contractor handling the road reconstruction to speed up work on the highway to avert further accidents on the Ewu hill, which is accident-prone, saying the single lane is not capable of carrying the heavy traffic on the busy highway.

“The problem is that this place needs to be dualised without delay. Construction work is going on there, but at snail speed. If it is not dualised within the shortest possible time, accidents will continue to happen, just like what happened at Gwagwalada-Abaji-Lokoja in those days. The single lane cannot carry the huge volume of vehicular traffic, especially at this yuletide season,” he said.

Meanwhile, a motorcyclist and his passenger were on Sunday crushed to death by a Volvo truck at Somorin/Obantoko road, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Babatunde Akinbiyi, spokesman for Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the accident occurred at about 1:00p.m. on Sunday.

Akinbiyi said the accident occurred when the motorcycle rider lost control as he was exchanging pleasantries with another motorcyclist.
“We learnt the rider of the Boxer motorcycle marked ABG 413 VR, was exchanging pleasantries with another bike rider when he lost control on noticing that a Volvo truck was approaching fast behind him. The truck eventually crushed him and the person he was carrying to death.

The driver did not stop but drove off,” he said.The TRACE spokesman said that the bodies of the deceased had been deposited at the morgue of the Ogun State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta.In another development, two persons were feared dead when a fully-loaded passenger boat capsized in Abonema, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. The boat was said to be travelling from Abonema to Idama yesterday when it lost control and capsized.

It was gathered that local divers rescued many of the victims, while two other passengers lost their lives. Eyewitnesses said, in all, 12 passengers were rescued after the accident, even as the local divers continued to search for bodies of the deceased.

The spokesman of the state police command, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the incident. He said: “I can confirm that a boat accident happened in Abonema, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.

“The affected passenger boat was travelling from Abonema to Idama when the incident happened and the accident claimed the lives of two persons. A search is being conducted for the bodies of the two passengers. The boat was travelling from Abonema in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area to Idama when it developed some issues and capsized,” Omoni added.