Driver Conveying 97 Baskets Of Tomatoes Crashes Truck Into Pavement On Abuja Expressway

A truck conveying 97 baskets of tomatoes has crashed into a pavement and overturned on the median barrier of the Kubwa Expressway in Abuja.

The truck was coming from Funtua in Katsina State and had almost arrived at its destination in Dei-Dei market, Abuja, when the driver lost control of the vehicle at about 4:30 am on Friday. The driver sustained a mild injury while his assistant was unscratched.

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The accident caused mild traffic congestion around Brick City Estate, Kubwa, as motorists approaching the scene were forced to slow down.

Some officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were drafted from Zuba Command (RS7411) to ensure free flow of traffic.

THE WHISTLER spoke to one of the officials, D. Mohammed, who blamed the driver for embarking on a night journey without proper understanding of the road to his destination.

Driver Conveying 97 Baskets Of Tomatoes Crashes Truck Into Pavement On Abuja Expressway

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Mohammed also noted that the driver may have fallen asleep because only his truck was involved in the accident.

Mohammed said, “The driver was on his way from Funtua (in Katsina State) to Dei-Dei Market, but unfortunately, he missed the road.

“This accident happened at about 4:30 am on Friday. As you can see the FRSC is here to do the traffic control. Our towing van is already on the way to pull out the truck from the way.”

Also speaking to our correspondent, the driver who identified himself as Edward Yakubu, said he couldn’t explain how the accident occurred.

“I was on my way coming from Funtua. I carried the baskets of tomatoes all the way from Katsina State and was supposed to drop them off at Dei-Dei market. But reaching here, I didn’t know the actual place to turn. I can’t just explain what happened, I just had the accident around 4:30 to 5 am.”

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Yakubu said he left Katsina at about 7 pm on Thursday and was meant to deliver the tomatoes to some traders at Dei-Dei market.

Asked to value the baskets of tomatoes destroyed, he said: “I carried 97 baskets of tomatoes, but I don’t know the cost of the tomatoes because I don’t buy it myself. My own is just to deliver to the market.”

On if he was going to be fined by the FRSC, he said: “Normally they were saying that they would tow my vehicle to their office and if they tow it there it would cost me N150,000 to recover the truck from them,” but that he had “liaised with the first set of officials and reached an agreement after discussing at length. One of the officers called a towing van driver that will help to tow the truck to Kaduna road where it would be fixed.”

Yakubu added that, “I called the owners of the goods to come and let us discuss how I will move my vehicle because they are supposed balance me when I arrive.”

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