Road marshals’ moment of honesty
Other people who were lucky to have escaped death during the accident collected their belongings in person from the commander in company of some of his officers at the premises of the command along Gujba road in Damaturu. Eleven people were involved in the accident, six died on the spot, another one at the hospital, […]
Other people who were lucky to have escaped death during the accident collected their belongings in person from the commander in company of some of his officers at the premises of the command along Gujba road in Damaturu.
Eleven people were involved in the accident, six died on the spot, another one at the hospital, while the remaining four who sustained various kinds of injuries were admitted at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in Damaturu.
Eye witnesses said officers and men of the FRSC were handy at the scene of the accident which was just about 30 kilometres away from Damaturu, and therefore carried out rescue operations and took the survivors to the hospital.
Also, the road safety men were quick to recover the sum of N961,430 in cash and personal effects of some of the victims which were thereafter kept under the custody of the commandant. The man later traced the addresses of the families of the deceased and those alive and directed them to go and claim their properties.
The accident involved three vehicles including a trailer truck with registration XB 332 BB; Volkswagen Golf with registration number AE 410 BJW and a Peugeot J5 bus whose number could not be identified because it was burnt to ashes after the accident.
Witnesses said the Golf car, which was carrying some passengers was on its way to Maiduguri from Kano when the driver of the Peugeot J5 bus who was on his way to Potiskum from Damaturu “wrongly” overtook the tanker trailer which was also on high speed on its way to Port-Harcourt from Maiduguri.
In the ensuing confusion, witnesses said the J5 went up in flames while the Golf car, which somersaulted severally, threw out most of its occupants. Some fell on the bare tarred road and died as a result of the injuries they sustained, mostly on their heads and chest.
Seen as his first major assignment since he took over from the former commander Mr. Emmanuel Ekekwe, the handover exercise was viewed as a new beginning for the road safety commission and a morale booster for its officers, especially in Yobe State.
In a subdued mood, many families gathered at the FRSC office in order to collect what their departed loved ones left behind while those that survived the accident but could not take their belongings because they were critically ill, narrated the trauma they experienced.
One of the deceased was Alhaji Ali Umar whose brother, Alhaji Mohammed Tela, collected the sum of N352, 430 recovered from the luggage of his late brother. In tears, Tela expressed gratitude to the FRSC for their “uprightness and pity”.
Tela, who described his late brother as humble and hardworking added that the late Ali Umar died while in pursuit of money to take care of their aged mother, wives and many children. “He went to Kano on a business trip but could not come back. We pray God to grant him Aljannah”, he said.
Bukar Kime equally collected cash amounting to N5,400 as well as towel and prayer rosary among other things belonging to his late brother, Alhaji Fannami Monguno, who also died in the accident.
According to Bukar, his brother equally left Monguno in Borno State in order to buy vegetables in Makarfi in Kaduna State. “He had made all the purchases and was on his way back home when he died in the accident. He had made all the purchases and loaded them in a trailer which was on its way to Monguno. We hope God would forgive him and bless those he left behind”, he prayed.
Tijjani Mohammed (29) who deals in textile materials in Maiduguri was so lucky because he did not travel to Kano that fateful day even though his consignment of twenty bundles of Shadda was in the Golf car that killed many people.
Tijjani, who equally went to FRSC office to reclaim his goods, thanked God for elongating his life. “There was no magic in it…Actually I wanted to go to Kano but something at home distracted my attention. I therefore sent money to my business associates in Kano and directed them to send the good to me, that was how God made me escape the accident”, he said.
Our correspondent learnt that not all the victims of the accident or the families of the deceased collected their belongings. Some only learnt about what befell their brothers much later and therefore went forward to reclaim their things.
Mallam Bunu Alhaji Kolo is a brother of the late Bana Alhaji Kolo who also died in the accident while on his way to Maiduguri from Kano on a business mission.
According to Bunu who came to Damaturu to collect the money and personal effect of his late brother, “his death was the greatest shock I ever received in my life because we had been talking to him on phone since he left Kano.”
But another surprise that came his way was that when he came to Damaturu, the FRSC officials gave him all the things that his brother left behind. “When he was in Kano, he told me that he had N603,600 in his possession and that there was no how he could go to bank and lodge the money and that was the exact money I have collected today…We are greatly obliged to the FRSC”, Bunu said.
He collected the Nokia handset, biro and shoes of his late brother which were also recovered from the wreckage of the Golf car he boarded from Kano. “May Allah bless all of you and keep on increasing your sincerity and patience”, Bunu told the officers and men of the FRSC.
He also called on other officials and men of the road safety to emulate the Yobe example even as he called on the federal and state governments to donate patrol vehicles including ambulances and communication equipment to the FRSC in order to encourage them maintain round the clock vigilance on the high way.
Our correspondent reports that accidents have remained on the increase along Maiduguri-Damaturu-Kano road which is very busy because of its strategic economic importance.