Pregnant woman, others die in Aba auto crash

Two passengers of a commercial tricycle on Tuesday in Aba, the commercial nerve of Abia State reportedly lost their lives as a haulage truck being chased by Revenue agents said to be working for Aba South Local Area Council.

Unconfirmed information has it that a yet-to-be identified pregnant woman and a passenger in the said tricycle died on the spot.

It was learnt that several other passengers in the commercial tricycle who were wounded are battling for survival in a government hospital after being rejected by a private hospital because of the degree of injury that they sustained.

Our reporter gathered that the incident which took place along East off Ikot Ekpene road caused heavy gridlock.

Some of the respondents who gave their names as Ifeanyi Offor, Chigozie Onyeka and Celestine Ogbonna blamed the revenue agents they said were working for the Aba South Local Government for the accident.

It was learnt that the revenue agents in a move to escape the wrath of the people dived into the Waterside River, luck however was said to have ran out on one of them who was apprehended by some of the onlookers that chased after them.

It was learnt that the timely intervention of a police team prevented the irate crowd from setting him ablaze after giving him the beating of his life.

Chigozie Onyeka in his account of the incident said “We were all here this afternoon at about 2pm trying to catch a bus to our destination when we saw a haulage bus being chased by touts that  were later identified to be working for Aba South Local Government.

“The speed was too much, while the keke was about driving off after picking some passengers. Unfortunately, the haulage bus crashed into the keke, killing two passengers at a go. Other passengers were severely wounded and we feared that the number of death might increase because they were compressed in the keke as a result of the accident.

“Realizing the danger of what they did and fearing being lynched, they jumped into the Waterside River, but people chased after them and got one of them who was beaten blue, black and purple.”

According to Ogbonna, “the accident victims were rejected at the initial hospital where they were taken to before they were taken to Abia State Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) as we later learnt.

“The governor of the state, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu when he appeared in various radio and TV stations in Aba said that the state government doesn’t support the use of touts in revenue drive, but the chairmen of both Aba North and South have continued to use their services.

“It is high time the government of the state rise to the occasion to address the senseless killing of innocent citizens of the state by these touts. This is one out of many cases of what Aba residents pass through in the hands of touts working for various local governments in and within Aba.”