8 dead, 22 injured in New Year day accidents 

 

.Travellers lament hike in fares as fuel sells for N390 per litre in Anambra

 

No fewer than seven persons were confirmed dead on Sunday while 16 others sustained injuries in an accident involving a Toyota Hiace bus and Mack tanker few meters to Gofamint on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

 

Mr Ahmed Umar, the Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun confirmed the incident to newsmen in Abeokuta.

 

Umar said that the accident occurred at 4:10pm and was caused by excessive speed on the part of the bus driver who lost control and rammed into the tanker from behind.

 

He added that 25 people were involved which comprised of 17 male adults and eight female adults.

 

“A total of 16 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries (10 male adults and six female adults) while seven persons were recorded dead from the crash (six male adults and one female adults), and two others were unhurt.

 

“Two vehicles were involved with registration numbers AKD 693 XW a Toyota Haice bus and GZA 215 XA a Mack tanker,” he said.

 

The FRSC boss explained that the injured victims were taken to Victory Hospital, Ogere for medical attention while the deceased were deposited at FOS Morgue, Ipara.

 

The sector commander advised motorists to shun speed, saying it kills faster than anything.

 

He also cautioned against driving while tired, saying “it is as dangerous as drunk driving”.

 

Umar called on drivers to always rest for 15 to 30 minutes after four hours journey.

 

The FRSC boss sympathised with the family of the victims and advised them to contact FRSC Ogunmakin office for more information about the crash.

 

Also, one person was confirmed dead while six others sustained injuries in an accident involving a Toyota Sienna and a Toyota RAV4 near Remo Majestic Hotel , Sagamu on the Sagamu-Benin expressway.

 

Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Spokesman, Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps in Ogun confirmed the incident to newsmen in Abeokuta on Sunday.

 

Akinbiyi explained that the incident occured at 9:20am, saying that the accident was caused by tyre burst on the part of the sienna vehicle marked EL 839 FST.

 

He noted that seven people were involved in the accident.

 

According to an eyewitness, the Sienna car was moving along side the Rav 4 vehicle when one of the tyres of the Sienna vehicle bursted.

 

“It fell over the Rav 4 vehicle marked 6172 DLA resulting in the death of one of the occupants of the Sienna vehicle while six other passengers in both vehicles were injured,” he said.

 

He urged drivers to shun speeding and the use of bad and second hand tyres.

in another development, Travellers travelling within Anambra State and its environs for the New year have decried the unprecedented hike in transportation occasioned by fuel pump price increase.

At the moment, pump price for fuel is between N330 and N390 in Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi and other parts of the state against the N270 per litre sold during the Yuletide season.

As a result, the cost of transportation and prices of commodities has sharply increased in the state.

This is just as travellers going to other parts of the South-East for the New Year celebration were made to pay as high as over 300 per cent in transportation fare to get to their destination.

For example, a triycle drop which before now costs N100 presently costs between N150 and N200 depending on the distance.

Also fares for intra-city shuttle has increased by as much as 300 percent as transporters now collect N300 for distances that earlier cost N100, as commuters and commercial transport operators engage in hot arguments and quarrels.

Similarly, a journey from Awka to the commercial city of Onitsha which used to be N500, was increased to N1,500 while Upper Iweka to the Main Market, Upper Iweka to Holy Trinity and others, which were formerly N100 went up to N300.

A trip round major cities of Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi, Ekwulobia over the weekend showed that while motorists express concern over the hike in petrol, passengers bear the brunt as they are subjected to extra spending.

The drivers lamented that the price of petrol had continued to rise without anybody coming to their rescue.

They accused marketers of arbitrarily hiking prices because of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

According to a tricycle rider who simply gave his name as Ejiofor, he said that while they struggle to meet up with the  weekly pay for the hire purchase contract, there is also the government tax to pay, hence they can’t help but increase the fare.

“Fare prices are doubled because of the increase in pump price of petrol. But, even if it comes down, keke fare will increase to N150 per drop, no matter how short the distance is, so we can meet up”, he added.

A traveller, identified as Mama Chioma, who lives in Onitsha but travelling to Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, lamented that the increase in transport fare had put additional burden on the travellers and household items.

She called on the Federal Government to intervene in the petrol price issue and save the masses from unbearable hardship.

Another traveller and a trader in Nnewi, Mr. James Udo, who described the situation as very pathetic, blamed it on the greed and opportunistic nature of transport operators who see the Yuletide as a period to amass wealth.

In his response, a commercial driver with the Star Sunny Motors in Onitsha, Mr. Goddy Ikem, justified their actions, insisting that transport operators were now buying petrol at a very high price which has adversely affected their returns.

Ikem, in charge of Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states, said, “It is not our problem; the price we are charging is reflective of the high cost of buying petrol.

“This is even affecting us the more, but we have to remain in business to service our people, especially during this Yuletide period.

“The high amount we buy petrol now is even affecting our returns and our profits have dropped by about 50 per cent, commuters should understand our plight too and know that it is not our fault.”

The fuel situation was like that at all the filling stations visited by our correspondent across the state , except at a filling station located at Tarzan, near Onitsha which was selling at N180 but with large queues of vehicles and customers scrambling for the product.

Another traveller, Emmanuel Onyiorah who was going from Awka to Onitsha with his two children said he had to go and get extra money from the POS operators around because on getting to the park, he realised what he had cannot take them to Onitsha and beyond to their destination.

He said, “I dont know how we really got here. Soon N500 will become our N50. It’s really sad. It’s just that this journey is important otherwise I would have turned back.”

For a commercial driver plying Enugu-Onitsha route, he said that though the present fare may seem big to passengers, that what they have left at end of the day after rendering account is nothing enough to take care of one’s family.