Survivors relive Okene-Abuja road horror


Two survivors of Tuesday’s accident on the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road yesterday relived the horror.

No fewer than 14 people, including a child, were crushed to death when a luxury bus ran over passengers of a Chisco Transport Company bus who were made to lie face-down on the road by armed robbers.

It also emerged yesterday that the bus took off from Port Harcourt and not from Ibadan or Lagos as speculated.

Joshua Chucks, whose leg was crushed from the ankle down, said he escaped by a hair’s breath.

Chucks, a journalist with Crystal Education magazine, recalled that the armed robbers stopped the bus and commanded all the passengers to lie face-down by the road.

"We were face-down when the first vehicle –a bus - crushed us. I was lucky I found myself in between the tyres of the bus when it cruised past. The second vehicle - a truck - then came. That was when my leg got hit.

Chucks, 30, said the robbers were armed with sophisticated weapons.

On the disputed number of victims, Chuks, who spoke on his hospital bed in Lokoja, said: "I think the number of the dead is more than 14, as claimed by the men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), because a full capacity luxury bus usually takes 60 passengers, although the bus we travelled in was not full. I think we had up to 50 people in the bus."

Chucks is a student of the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) in Abuja. He hails from Ngo Okpalla Local Government Area of Imo State.

Mr. Reuben Ezirim, father of one the dead, the late Stanley Ezirim, narrated the same ordeal. He said his late son was a graduate of computer science who got married last December and had a two-month old child.

Another survivor of the horror accident Mr. Kunle Makinde, also a journalist, confirmed that the bus took off from Port Harcourt.

Makinde who spoke in Port Harcourt yesterday said he opted for a night bus for the journey to Abuja to attend an oil and gas conference, due to personal reasons. He thanked God for being alive.

At the Ikwerre Road, Mile One, Diobu, Port Harcourt office of Chisco Transport Company, no official was ready to speak on the ugly development. But some persons were seen in groups, wearing mournful looks and discussing the unfortunate incident.

They are believed to be family members of the victims.

Makinde, Editor of Port Harcourt-based Verite newspaper, said the robbery took place on the Okene-Abuja highway around 2:30 am on Tuesday. He also confirmed that the armed robbers asked all the passengers to lie face down on the road.

He said: "While the armed robbers were frisking the passengers on the road, another luxury bus on top speed ran over many of the passengers. A large part of my body was in the bush. It was only my head that was close to the road.

"Some of us saw the luxury bus as it approached but nothing could be done at that point. The incident was so horrible and no one was around at that time to help.

"I counted and noticed that nine persons died on the spot. The remaining three victims died in a police vehicle as they were being rushed to the hospital. I have learnt my lesson. I will never travel in the night again. I was left without anything, after the incident."

The editor expressed displeasure at the attitude of the policemen who showed up on the scene in a Toyota Landcruiser Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). He blamed them for not immediately rushing the seriously-injured victims to the hospital.

He said the policemen were only interested in impounding the luxury bus and getting the conductor to follow them to the police station to write statement. He said but for the delay, the three injured victims that died on the way to the hospital might have survived.

Makinde, who said he was still scared as a result of the close shave with death, returned to Port Harcourt yesterday by air.

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