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The Anambra State Police Command on Saturday reacted to the fatal accident which occurred at a police checkpoint on the Onitsha-Owerri Road, Ihiala Local Government of the state.
The accident occurred when a truck with number plate UWZ556XA, rammed into six other vehicles around Ken Maduako Oil and Gas Filling Station along the Ihialla-Onitsha road area of the state, killing two persons and injuring nine others on Friday.
It was gathered that the truck driver, who was on a top speed, while approaching the police checkpoint at Ihiala, lost control and rammed into the vehicles on the queue at the checkpoint and crashed.
No fewer than 63 persons were involved in the crash as it also involved commercial vehicles. Some motorists escaped unhurt.
It was gathered that the accident created some pandemonium around the scene as members of the truck drivers union blocked the busy Onitsha-Owerri Road, on noticing that the accident was a result of the police checkpoint in the area.
The truck drivers mobilised heavy trucks around the scene of the accident and blocked the ever busy highway on both sides, an action, which caused heavy gridlock on that road.
The real reason for their actions was not provided, but eyewitnesses said they were protesting the havoc the police checkpoint is causing motorists on that road, as a similar event had occurred a few months ago on that axis.
The eyewitness lamented that motorists are always being asked to come down from their vehicles to trek past the police checkpoint, an action that has become a burden to the motoring public.
However, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, had commiserated with the families of the two persons who died and the nine others, who sustained injuries in the accident.
In a statement on Saturday, the police spokesman, DCP Ikenga Tochukwu, identified the driver of the truck as one of the victims that died in the crash while attributing the fatal crash to overspeeding and brake failure by the trailer driver.
The police said the truck drivers were misinformed about the cause of the accident, which led to their protest while appealing to them to have a rethink.
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The statement read in part, “While the Police indeed have a ‘Stop and Search Point’ close to the scene of the accident, it is wrong to blame the police for the unfortunate incident.
“The fact that only six vehicles were on the queue on a dual carriageway as busy as that expressway is evidence that the Police has been responsible and sensitive to the plight of the motoring public by ensuring minimal delay as it conduct its stop and search operations aimed at protecting not only Police facilities in the area from insurgents’ attacks, but also the general public, who are mostly at the receiving end of escapades by criminal elements.”
The police boss, however, commended the officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps for promptly rising to the occasion and partnering with them in getting the injured to the hospital and clearing the wreckage from the road to allow for free flow of traffic.
“It is unfortunate that drivers of container bearing trailers, under the umbrella of their union, who were misinformed about the cause of the accident mobilised heavy trucks to the scene at about 1630 hours on the day of the accident and blocked the ever busy highway on both sides.
“All entreaties made to them to consider the plight of the motoring public fell on deaf ears. Innocent motorists were at the receiving end of this ill-advised blockade.
“The Nigeria Police wish to appeal to the unionists to have a rethink in the interest of their fellow citizens and consider the plight of stranded travellers to remove the blockade from the highway. The Police will continue to explore peaceful means of resolving the imbroglio to prevent further loss of precious human lives,” the statement added.
It also added that the CP, while thanking the good public for their robust support, assured them that the Police would continue to raise the bar of service delivery in the interest and safety of the law-abiding public.
