Trailer Driver Escaped After Killing 20 School Children In Enugu

-Bereaved Families Still In Trauma

Residents of Mgbowo in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State are yet to get over a trauma inflicted on the community by a reckless trailer driver who rammed into a school bus dropping off pupils and killing 20 of them on Wednesday afternoon.

Advertisement

The Federal Road Safety Corp had confirmed the death of 21 persons, which included a roadside vulcaniser, at the scene of the accident.

But the driver of the trailer was said to have escaped through the bush during the ensuing confusion and is yet to be found.

But residents were still mourning when THE WHISTLER visited the town on Friday to meet families of the victims.

Advertisement

Four-year-old Ugomsinachi Chibuike survived Wednesday’s ill-fated road accident that claimed about 20 lives of pupils of Presentation Nursery and Primary School, Mgbowo, in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, by a whisker. She sustained fracture in her left leg, and was frail and dumbfounded when THE WHISTLER visited her at Agwu. She is in nursery one.

Ugomsinachi Chibuike with her grandmother

Her grandmother, Christiana Ogbonna, was by her side to ensure that she got the best parental comfort in what has been described as the greatest tragedy involving school children in recent time.

Mrs Ogbonna said, “We were in our shop selling goods around where it happened. This trailer was coming from Mmaku hill. We were shouting and asking whether the trailer had brake because of the manner the driver was driving it. The bus carrying our kids was parked by the roadside. This trailer hit it very hard, and pushed it into the gully Ovo stream, with some kids falling off in the process. All of us rushed towards it, crying. It was terrible.”

She said within a short period, the scene of the accident became crowded as parents, symphathisers and rescuers besieged the area, trying to save anybody they could. In her words, “These kids were picked out with blood all over them. Some dead, some very injured, with few unhurt. Parents and relatives of some of the kids were picking them in different conditions. You can never imagine what happened there!”

Advertisement

She said with what she saw, initially, the hope of her grand daughter’s survival was virtually faded on her mind: “When my grand daughter was brought out alive, I called her and she answered, although terribly injured. So we took her to the hospital. She was treated of the bruises. After, we took her to a bone-setter’s home to fix the fractured bone.”

On what should be done to avert future occurrences, Mrs Ogbonna said, “I call on the government to fix that spot that this accident happened. They should build protectors there because it is dangerous. This is not the first time such incident is happening. Many ugly things have happened there. There was a time a tipper killed somebody there. One vehicle also damaged the goods of the people around there. In fact, many vehicles had fallen into that place.”

Findings by our correspondent show that the 608 Mercedes Benz was parked by the pathway to the Ovo stream where its tyre was being pumped by a vulcaniser, when the out-of-control low-bed trailer belonging to a construction company rammed into it. The trailer was said to have dropped off a bulldozer, and caused the mayhem on its return.

The vulcaniser and his apprentice were also crushed by the trailer. Mrs Chukwuokoro Ifeoma, the wife of the late 55-year-old vulcaniser, simply identified as Mr Chukwuokoro, was seen carrying her baby at her late husband’s shop, calling for help. In her words, “My husband had two kids. One is a year and two months old, while the other one is two years and two months old. He hailed from Mmaku. He is our all and all. I don’t know what to do again. Even the money to bring his corpse from the mortuary, we cannot afford. He is the only son of his father. He was treated at Jideofor hospital before he died. The bills are too much for us.”

Also at the scene of the incident was Chidube Eze, the elder brother of the vulcaniser’s apprentice, who also died in the carnage. According to him, “I am from Awgu. The name of my late brother is Sunday Eze. He was 18-years-old. He is our third child. He is being trained in vulcanising by my father, who rides okada. My mother is selling fruits. His corpse is still in the mortuary now. I want government to help us bury him. We don’t have money to bury him.”

A woman, who said her son was the last to be dropped off by the bus before the accident, narrated that, “Most of the affected pupils were headed for Mmaku as a majority of those from our side had set down before the accident. It still sounds like film to me, considering that my boy was dropped off few minutes before this happened. This is too sad, considering that the driver escaped through the bush after the mayhem.”

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the archdeacon of the Anglican Church, Awgu, lost his daughter while his other two children sustained various degrees of injuries. When our correspondent visited his house, located in the church, the mood was melancholic. The archdeacon and his wife were said to have gone to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku Ozalla, where their injured children were being treated.

A source in the family said, “We are yet to get over this. The eldest daughter died while her two younger ones are currently receiving treatment. We thank God because it could have been worse. The name of the dead is Chiamaka while the two survivors are Chidimma (daughter) and his brother Oguejiofo.”

The mood at the school was still tense as its academic activities had been put on hold. It was gathered that priests of Awgu Dioceses went to pray for the repose of the souls of the departed in their respective homes. However, most of the bereaved families had relocated to their respective villages to bury their dead.

Meanwhile, Enugu State governor Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, during a visit to the teaching hospital, Friday, said the state government would foot the bills of treating them. He was accompanied on the visit by the president general of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo; the deputy minority leader and member representing Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River Federal Constituency, the Rt Hon Toby Okechukwu; member representing Enugu East/Isi-Uzo Federal Constituency, Hon Cornelius Nnaji; chairman, Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, Amb Lawrencev Agubuzu; the wife of Nigeria’s first president, Prof Uche Azikiwe, among other Igbo leaders.

Leave a comment

Advertisement