Travellers crushed to death as trailer rams into 18-seater bus at police checkpoint

The accident reportedly happened on the Umuahia-Enugu axis of the Port Harcourt Enugu highway around the Lokpanta area in the early hours of Thursday.

According to The Nation, the commercial bus driver was waiting for the police clearance when the trailer driver lost control and rammed into the vehicle killing all its occupants.

An eyewitness, Bananas Okereke, who spoke to the newspaper said the bodies of victims still littered the scene at 8:20 am.

"The road is blocked by protesting bus drivers and other motorists who are asking that the policemen who caused the accident be brought back to the scene.

"Colleagues of the bus driver and other road users have taken over the road, demanding justice for the victims. They vowed to remain there until Governor Alex Otti visits the scene," the eyewitness said.

According to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), 5,081 people were killed in over 10,000 incidents across Nigeria in 2023. More than 31,000 people were also injured in the incidents.

The main factors listed were speed violation, overloading, driving under the influence, continuous night journey leading to fatigue, dangerous driving, wrongful overtaking, and tyre burst.