An unidentified prospective female member of the National Youth Service Corps was killed in a fatal road accident that happened in Ebonyi State, on Wednesday, January 22, 2024.
She was among a group of 12 other prospective corps members conveyed in a 14-seater bus which headed for the NYSC orientation camp in Afikpo town, the Afikpo Local Government Area of the state, for their three weeks orientation course, according to a source in the area.
They were believed to be prospective members of the 2024 Batch C Stream II set of corps members, who reported at the camp the same day.
The Enugu North Mass Transit bus, in which they were travelling, was said to have rammed into a parked truck beside the road.
The deceased was said to have died from her injuries while her colleagues and other passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries.
They were rescued by residents and security agencies and rushed to the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences where they are currently receiving treatment.
The source said, “Corps members had an accident while going to the NYSC camp. The accident happened in the Amenu community in Okposi. A female corps member died.
The bus is a 14-seater bus with 12 of them being corps members. Others sustained injuries.”
A source at the hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed that the victims were brought to the hospital.
Yes, I saw them in the evening. They were brought by security officials. They are responding to treatment,” the source said.
The Ebonyi State Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Igwe Henry, confirmed the accident, saying he had no details of casualties as the victims were rescued before his officers got to the scene.
He said, “At the time our men from Amasiri Unit Command got the information and got to the scene, the victims had been rescued. They didn’t directly carry out the rescue, and therefore, could not ascertain specifics of what happened.
However, the crash occurred on January 22, at about 1400 hours. The route was Amasiri-Okiigwe which they call Amenu village in Okposi. Two vehicles were involved, one was a Toyota commercial bus, grey colour, and the other was a commercial Mercedes-Benz tipper (truck).
“So, from preliminary findings, it may have been caused by excessive speed on the part of the commercial vehicle, that is the bus. But the details as to the number of injured and so on, have not been ascertained, because like I said, the victims were actually rescued by bystanders and then taken to David Umahi Hospital in Uburu.
And then the items recovered at the scene, I understand, are in the custody of one Chief Amos of the Amenu Village in the same Oposi. At the King David’s Hospital, where my men went, the ones they saw were actually in stable condition.”
The State NYSC Coordinator, Mrs Foluke Oladeinde, also confirmed the accident.
“I’m not in the right frame of mind to talk now. I’m in the hospital now. Yes, the accident occurred but I can’t talk right now,” she said.
(PUNCH)