It was a calamitous Friday for a number of families last weekend, when a lone Camry car with brown colour with five occupants plunged into a canal at the Omi dam, in Omi community in Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Eye witness confirmed that the and the occupants were returning to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital that fateful day after attending a burial ceremony in Ogga in Yagba East Local Government Area of the State. Full details of how the accident occurred is still very sketchy but that the Nigeria Police is working hard to unveil the actual cause of the accident. Some bystanders are of the view that it might have caused by excessive speeding and reckless driving. It has been confirmed that five persons were killed in the car accident which occured in Yagba West local government area of the Kogi state on Friday evening|.
It was gatherd that the car lost control and plunged into a canal around Omi dam in Kogi at about 4.30pm on Friday evening.
Mr Pius Kolawale, Chairman, Yagba West LGA, Kogi, who confirmed the incident described the incident as “very sad” and “unfortunate.”
The said that the one of the five occupants of the car that plunged into the canal escaped death as he was able to swim out with the aid of a good Samaritan, a fisherman, who unfortunately got drown.
“Among the dead are three ladies and two men including the fisherman.
“The five of them were coming from Oga Community on their way to Lokoja but unfortunately just along the canal, where there is a very sharp corner, they lost control and went straight into the canal.
The Accident Car inside the Canal
Only one of the occupants of the car escaped while four died including three ladies. The fifth person that died was a good Samaritan, a fisherman, who tried to save them but died in the process, ” he narrated.
Kolawale said that when the incident happened around 4.30 p.m. of yesterday, he put a call to the Council’s Police Divisional Police Officer (DPO), “who came with his men and took the corpses to a morgue.”
“Already the family members of the deceased have come and took their corpses today for burial.
“That very road the incident happened is that of Niger River Basin Authority solely for the maintenance of the dam but people traveling from Oga to Lokoja take advantage of it to cross over to Ebira and continue their journey to Lokoja as a short cut, ” he said.
The chairman appealed to the road users, especially motorists, to drive with care and avoid speed while plying that very road.
Corps Commander Stephen Dawulung, Kogi Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Commander, who also confirmed the incident described it as “very unfortunate”.
Dawulung said that the very road the incident occured was not a conventional road but that because of the advantage it offers to travellers as a short cut they keep plying it.
The FRSC sector commander called on motorists keep to the rules and regulations of the corps to avoid lives and property wastage.
According to him, the lone accident would have been avoided if they were not on speed on that fateful day of Friday.
