- A woman also suffered a debilitating injury which saw her two legs mangle in the accident.
- She is receiving treatment at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.
Three persons have lost their lives in a ghastly auto mishap in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The victims, including a lawyer, were killed when an heavy-duty truck laden with huge consignments of flour rammed into shops at Utu Etim Ekpo while fleeing from security operatives.
According to Punch, a woman also suffered a debilitating injury which saw her two legs mangle in the accident.
She is receiving treatment at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.
A resident, Eno Umanah, a motorcycle operator, said the tragic incident happened at about 8:00 pm on Monday.
He disclosed that the truck driver was trying to evade some bribe-seeking security agents who mounted a roadblock at the Nkwot Ikot Ebo portion of the Iwukem-Etim Ekpo-Abak road, lost control and rammed into shops, killing the victims instantly.
He said, “The truck loaded with flour was coming from the Iwukem area of the road towards Abak, and was flagged down by soldiers mounting road block at Nkwot Ikot Ebo, but the driver refused to stop.
“The soldiers then pursued and overtook the truck, but the driver again refused to stop. The soldiers scampered away as the truck continued with speed and descended the sloop towards the roundabout, but couldn’t navigate away with the speed.
“The driver then lost control and veered off the road into several makeshift shops by the motor park, and crashed, killing the unsuspecting victims suddenly.”
It is learned that the road had claimed several lives since it was constructed during the tenure of Godswill Akpabio owing to its design, build and structural defect.
The Federal Road Safety Corps Public Relations Officer in the state, John James, is yet to issue a statement on the incident.