Two people lost their lives and three others sustained injuries in a fatal accident near Ebonyi State University’s permanent site along the Abakaliki–Enugu Expressway on Saturday.
The crash involved a commercial bus carrying passengers from Otukpo, Benue State, and a Mercedes-Benz 911 truck transporting sachet water from Enugu to Abakaliki.
Investigations revealed that security personnel at the Ishieke Police Station had blocked one section of the federal highway, a measure residents say has contributed to repeated accidents in the area.
Confirming the incident by telephone, the Ebonyi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Anthony Ogbodo, blamed the accident on dangerous driving, worsened by the roadblock.
He disclosed that the bus carried 10 passengers—eight men and two women. Sadly, one man and one woman died, while three others were rushed to hospital with varying degrees of injury.
“The police closed one lane of the road at night, and that contributed to the accident,” Mr Ogbodo explained.
The deceased were taken to the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital mortuary in Abakaliki.
Attempts to obtain the police’s response proved unsuccessful, though eyewitnesses insist the closure of one lane directly caused the crash.