Pascal Arogorn Ibe
An angry mob yesterday set a truck ablaze in Onitsha, Anambra State after a pedestrian was killed in an accident along Onitsha-Owerri road.
Eyewitnesses said the truck, belonging to a popular cement company lost control and crushed a pedestrian walking along the expressway.
The death of the man, who was well known in the community, caused some angry youths to set the truck ablaze when the driver was nowhere to be found.
Confirming the incident, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Anambra Command, said one male adult, whose identity was not captured, was crushed to death in a road crash in Onitsha.
A statement from the sector’s Public Education Officer, Kamal Musa, said the accident happened yesterday about 9:55 a.m.
Musa who spoke on behalf of the Sector Commander, Andrew A. Kumapayi, said: “The truck driver slipped out of his lane due to excessive speeding and crushed a pedestrian who is well known in the community, hence, the angry youths revenged by setting the truck ablaze when the driver was nowhere to be found”.
He said the FRSC rescue team from Upper Iweka Outpost immediately mobilised for rescue operations but were intercepted by the angry youths who took the body of the victim away.
Meanwhile, Kumapayi has revealed that a total number of 98 people lost their lives in road crashes in the state last year, with 532 others sustaining varying degrees of injuries.
Giving the breakdown, he said: “Out of the 98 persons that lost their lives in the crashes, 71 were male while 27 were female.
Kumapayi who disclosed this during the 2020 commemoration of World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Road Traffic Crashes with the theme, “Remember, Support, Act”, said the casualties were recorded from 190 crashes.
He however lamented that officers and men of the corps suffered trauma during the recent #EndSARS protest, saying it was not enough to deter his personnel from rendering efficient services to the people of the state.
In Oyo State, the FRSC said it recorded a total of 142 road crashes and 70 deaths in the third quarter of 2020. The Sector Commander in the state, Mrs Uche Chukwurah, said it recorded more road crashes in the third quarter, which was between July and September than 112 crashes recorded in the second quarter of the year under review.
She said that more crashes were recorded during the period because it was in the rainy season, and most people were in a hurry due to the lifting of the restrictions on movement during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
“We recorded 142 road traffic crashes, the number of vehicles involved was 230, the number killed was 70, number injured was 389 and we were able to rescue 364 and the total number of people involved was 823.
“Overspending accounted for major cause of road crashes during the period and followed by wrongful overtaking and tire burst,” the sector commander said.
She pleaded with motorists to desist from using ‘tokunbo’ tyres, saying more lives can be saved if they use brand new ones.
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