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Commuters cry out over articulated vehicle menace in South East

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Commuters cry out over articulated vehicle menace in South East

Cynthia Njoku, a 300-level student of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) felt ill, and after one week of treatment at her tertiary institution which produced no meaningful result, she decided to go home to notify her parents so that proper medication would be administered on her. 

A native of Imeriegwe in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area, Imo State, Miss Njoku headed home one faithful evening in November 2024. Sadly, she never lived to tell the unfortunate story that came her way. The commuter bus she boarded at Wetheral Junction, convening her and other passengers to Ulakwo Junction, Owerri, could not evade a stationary lorry at Emii end of the Owerri – Aba Express Road. It was a Friday evening tragedy as Njoku was among the passengers who lost their lives instantly due to the dangerous impact of the auto crash.

In December last year, an articulated vehicle of about 20 tyres, laden with premium motor spirit popularly known as fuel, which was heading from Port Harcourt to Enugu, had effectively crossed the Aba axis of the express road, but tragically lost control on getting to the Umuahia area. The vehicle rammed over more than four commuter busses ahead of it and in the process caught fire. It was a terrible situation better seen than imagined. It was later confirmed that 11 persons died in that horrible accident, in the least.

Early last week, what happened at the ever-boisterous  Owerri- Onitsha Road was simply beyond explanation as a family of six all perished in that disaster.

Citizen journalist, Chidiebube Okeoma, who investigated the cause of the accident, gave a pathetic account of what happened. According to him, “The auto crash which happened at the Ogbaku axis of the road in Imo State was very horrifying.

“A man was all joy and was driving his wife, who had delivered a set of twins the previous two days from a hospital in Owerri, the state capital. He was not speeding.

He was driving gently, observing all the road codes. Somewhere in the Ogbaku area, there was a minor traffic that forced a trailer to stop and the man also stopped at the back of the trailer.

“Tragedy struck when an articulated vehicle that the driver was sleeping and lost control or the vehicle’s brake failed (from behind) hit the Sienna containing the man, his nursing wife, two-day-old twins, mother-in-law, and a maid, forcing the car to squeeze to rubble as it was forced under the other trailer in front. Before passersby could rush for any rescue mission,  the Sienna was already in flames, and that was how all the six occupants of the car from one family died”.

Yet, a worse scenario played out on January 29, 2025, almost the same time the Ogbaku tragedy erupted.

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It is the heartbreaking story of how 11 family members died in an Enugu tanker explosion.

The unfortunate family members from the Abofia-Agbaja community of Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State were among the victims of a tanker fire that occurred at Ugwu Onyeama along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway two Saturdays ago.

The accident was made possible, according to an eyewitness account, when the driver lost control while struggling to navigate through a hilly area of the road. Unable to have effective control of the vehicle, which was then wobbling, the driver resorted to fate. The effect was that the trailer ultimately crashed into some of the other vehicles ahead of it and eventually spilled its contents and then exploded. Investigation revealed that the explosion claimed the entire family of one Mr. Jeremiah Nwaji, who was traveling in a private Sienna to the village to bury their late father.

According to an account, “Nwaji narrated that the victims were on their way from Onitsha, Anambra State with his six children, wife, brother and servants to the village where their Sienna bus ignited fire from the explosion that burnt them to ashes”.

There are striking similarities between the Ogbaku tragedy and the Enugu disaster. Both families travel in Sienna buses. Both incidents were caused by articulated vehicles’ menace. The two tragedies happened during services to family members: the Ogbaku Sienna was taking a family of six home after the car owner’s wife successfully delivered a set of twins. The Enugu Sienna was taking a family of 11 home for the burial of the breadwinner’s father. And in both cases, there was no survivor!!!

Kelechi Okereke, a political scientist, and public analyst, in a chat with Business Hallmark, blamed the entire problem on “poor governance”. He said, “From what you narrated about the Ogbaku incident, you can see that either the driver slept off or the articulated vehicle failed to brake. If our institutions were working, that driver would have quietly stopped when he noticed he was feeling dizzy. That is, he knew that if he continued, he would have been caught by traffic agents who would charge him with traffic offenses. However, as he was sure nobody would apprehend and query him,  he never bothered, and he continued, and you now know what happened in the process”.

In his submission, Deacon Chidi Godspower, the chief pastor of Heavenly Crusade Church, Ngwa Road, Aba, called on the Federal Government, to enforce the law that compels articulated vehicles to be on the road at night and out of the road during the day.

“The night is usually very traffic-free. Our people have drastically reduced night activities and night journeys. Therefore, if the Federal Government strengthens the law banning articulated vehicles from making use of the road during the daytime when this kind of ugly accident happens, the death toll and casualty figure will be extremely low. The articulated vehicles are causing pains and severe damage to the commuters in South East”, he submitted.

Amadi Joe, who witnessed the Enugu tanker explosion, noted that both the drivers and articulated vehicle owners must try as much as possible to observe the traffic codes and ensure their vehicles are always roadworthy to avoid such accidents.

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