At least one person, a prospective member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), was killed in an accident in Ebonyi on Wednesday.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that 11 other prospective corps members alongside other passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries in the accident.
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All the passengers were in a 14-seater bus belonging to the Enugu North Mass Transit. The bus rammed into a parked truck beside the road leading to the death and injuries.
Residents of the area said the prospective corps members boarded the bus in Enugu on Wednesday and were heading to the NYSC orientation camp located in Afikpo town, Afikpo Local Government Area for their three weeks orientation programme.
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They are believed to be prospective members of the 2024 Batch C Stream II set of corps members who resumed camp on Wednesday.
The female corps member, whose name could not be ascertained, was said to have died from her injuries while her colleagues and other passengers sustained various degrees of injuries.
The survivors were rescued by witnesses and security officials and rushed to the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (DUFUHS) where they are receiving treatment.
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“Corps members had accident while going to NYSC camp. The accident happened at Amenu community in Okposi. A female corps member died,” one witness said.
“The bus is a 14 seater bus with 12 of them being corps members. Others sustained injuries.”
A source at the hospital 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 hospital official said, asking not to be named as he has no permission to talk to journalists.
FRSC reacts
The Ebonyi State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Igwe Henry, confirmed the accident.
He, however, said he has no details of casualties as the victims were rescued before his officers got to the scene.
“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 22nd January, at about 14.00 hours. The route was Amasiri-Okiigwe, where they call Amenu village in Okposi.
“Two vehicles were involved, one was a Toyota commercial bus, grey color, and the other was a Mercedes-Benz tipper (truck), a commercial Mercedes-Benz tipper, the regular tipper that you see around.”
Mr Henry said their preliminary findings indicate that the accident may have been caused by excessive speed by the bus driver.
“But the details as to the number 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.
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“And then the items recovered at the scene, I understand, are in the custody of one Chief Amos, of 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,” he said.
NYSC official confirms accident
The Ebonyi State Coordinator of NYSC, Foluke Oladeinde, also confirmed the accident.
Mrs Oladeinde, who appeared to still be in a state of shock, could only confirm the accident but did not give further details.
“I am not in a right frame of mind to talk now. I am in the hospital now. Yes the accident occurred but I can’t talk right now,” she said.
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