The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has described the deaths of persons at the Calabar festival as ‘ugly incident’.
The carnival turned bloody after a vehicle drove into a crowd participating in a bikers parade in Calabar, Cross River State, killing at least seven and injuring several others on Tuesday.
Peter Obi has commiserated with victims of the tragedy, saying the incident is a “huge loss” to the immediate and extended families of the victims, the government and people of Cross River State and Nigerians in general, Obi said he was saddened by the loss of lives and many injuries recorded.
“I sincerely commiserate with the families who lost their loved ones in this ugly incident, and pray for the quick recovery of the injured. May God grant eternal rest to the dead,” the LP candidate tweeted on Wednesday evening
The incident, a Bikers/Exotic Cars Parade, was planned as one of the events leading up to the annual Calabar Carnival. According to eyewitness accounts, a driver in an unregistered vehicle that took part in the event lost control and rammed into spectators at the Bogobiri axis of the carnival route.
The victims were rushed to Navy Reference Hospital in Calabar, leading to an abrupt end of the event. Some eyewitnesses blamed the accident on poor crowd control.