4 IGBINEDION VARSITY LECTURERS DIE •AS VEHICLE PLUNGES INTO RIVER

FOUR lecturers of the Igbinedion University, Okada, in Edo State, reportedly died on Wednesday night, when their vehicle plunged into Ovia river while on their way from Okada to Benin City, the state capital.

The names of those that died were given as Morgan Efosa Uwogiren, Lucky Ehiorobo, Mrs Shirley Iwede of the Department of Business Administration and Ms Shola Ajayi of the Department of Banking and Finance.

Sources at the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said the corpses of the two women were still missing while those of two men had since been deposited at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) mortuary.

According to Mr Amin Adewale of the FRSC, the incident occurred after their car, a black Volkswagen Audi 80 station wagon, with registration number EDO BF 438 USL, plunged into the Ovia river, near Ekiadolor Junction, on the Benin-Ore road, in an effort to avoid an oncoming articulated lorry.

 Journalist:   Uchechukwu Olisah, Benin City

The articulated lorry was said to be coming from the Benin end of the road but in a bid to avoid a failed portion, veered into the opposite lane, where the car conveying the lecturers was coming from and purportedly forced it into the river.

The university’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Emeka Okika, who confirmed the death of the lecturers, however, said he had not been fully briefed about the circumstances of their death.

The Edo sector commander of the FRSC, Mr Ken Nwaegbe, said although the accident happened on Wednesday, the agency was only able to find the corpse of two of the victims while two others’ were still missing.

The agency said that its handicap in evacuating crashed vehicles and victims of accident like the one which involved the Igbinedion University lecturers was a result of its inability to acquire heavy duty cranes.

The FRSC zonal commander in charge of Edo, Delta and Anambra, Mr Wole Olaniran, said “Unfortunately, our operations in rescue and evacuation of crashed vehicles and victims from accident scenes are made difficult as we do not have heavy duty cranes.

“Because we rely on sister agencies and private collaborators to make these cranes available, the logistics involved increases our time of response and thus hinders our evacuation operations.”

The zonal commander assured that the command was trying to ensure the level of fatality in some notable accident prone black spots or corridors within the states under his zone was reduced.

According to him, part of the measures was the mobile squad weekly patrol special operations carried out to curtail the speed limits of motorists, as well as create in the minds of road users the presence of the FRSC on the roads.

Olaniran urged motorists, other road users and good Samaritans to always call the FRSC on a toll-free line on `122’ to assist the corps in responding promptly to accidents as well as increase the chances of saving lives.

Meanwhile, motorists and other road users have blamed the absence of side rails on the Ovia river bridge on the Benin-Ore highway, which the Federal Government, on Wednesday, approved the sum of N65 billion for its reconstruction for the crash.

The Federal Executive Council approved the reconstruction of outstanding sections of Benin-Ofosu-Ore-Ajebandele-Sagamu Expressway phase three for a sum of N65,223,155,642.34 with a completion period of 36 months. The contract was awarded to Messrs Reynolds Construction Company (RCC).