How 23 Sokoto residents, Kebbi youths died in road crashes
Twenty-three people have died in two separate road accidents in Kebbi State. The first accident claimed the lives of 18 people from Sokoto State who were returning home from Lagos, where they had travelled in search of livelihoods. The victims were among 20 passengers travelling in an 18-seater commercial bus when it reportedly collided head-on […]
Twenty-three people have died in two separate road accidents in Kebbi State.
The first accident claimed the lives of 18 people from Sokoto State who were returning home from Lagos, where they had travelled in search of livelihoods.
The victims were among 20 passengers travelling in an 18-seater commercial bus when it reportedly collided head-on with a trailer around 11pm on Monday along the Sokoto–Yauri Road in Kebbi State.
Eighteen people died on the spot, while two others sustained minor injuries.
An eyewitness who visited the scene told Daily Trust that the passengers were returning to Sokoto after spending some time in Lagos in search of a means of livelihood.
Bello Muhammad, a member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and a close friend of the late driver, said he joined other community members in evacuating the victims after receiving news of the crash.
He said they arrived at the scene at about 4am on Tuesday and found that the commercial bus had collided head-on with a trailer.
“We were informed that our colleague had been involved in a road accident shortly after Yauri town. By the time we arrived, 18 people had already died, and the vehicle was completely wrecked,” he said.
He said many of the victims would be buried in Yauri because their bodies were badly mutilated in the crash.
He added that the two survivors sustained minor injuries, one of them being the bus conductor.
Alhaji Shehu Jabo, a close associate of the owner of the commercial bus, said he also joined in conveying the bodies to Kajiji and attended the funeral prayers of the victims from Shagari Local Government Area.
He described the condition of the bodies as heartbreaking, saying members of the community were devastated by the extent of the damage.
“We were overwhelmed with grief because many of the bodies were badly mangled. It was difficult to recognise some of them,” he said.
Jabo alleged that a truck veered into the lane of the commercial bus, resulting in the fatal collision.
He said both vehicles were extensively damaged and that the entire community was left in tears over the tragedy.
The Chairman of Shagari Local Government Area, Barrister Maidawa Kajiji, confirmed the incident to Daily Trust and expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy.
He condoled with the families of the deceased and prayed to Allah to forgive their shortcomings, grant them Aljannatul Firdaus and give their loved ones the strength to bear the irreparable loss.
In a separate accident, five youths from the Ambursa area of Birnin Kebbi died when a Toyota Sienna vehicle conveying 18 passengers to a friendly football match lost control and somersaulted along the Airport Road in Birnin Kebbi Local Government Area.
Several other occupants of the vehicle sustained varying degrees of injuries.
During a condolence visit to the palace of the District Head of Ambursa on behalf of Governor Nasir Idris, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Abubakar Umar Dutsinmari, said the governor witnessed the accident firsthand.
Dutsinmari described the death of the five youths as a great tragedy, not only for the Ambursa community but for Kebbi State as a whole.
The commissioner, accompanied by the commissioners for Information and Works, presented N20 million to the families of the deceased on behalf of the governor.
He also announced N1 million for each injured victim and N2 million for the other occupants of the vehicle.