BENIN— NINE persons were killed, yesterday, in a road accident involving a tipper lorry and a commercial bus along Upper Sakponba Road in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.
The accident, according to an eyewitness, occurred at about 6a.m. along Upper Sakponba Road near Oka Market, when a tipper lorry rammed into a commercial bus that was picking passengers by the roadside.
All the passengers in the commercial bus, with number plates, BEN 435 ZN, died.
Six of the passengers, including a pregnant woman, died on the spot, while others died at the hospital they were rushed to.
The incident sparked protest from family members, friends and other commercial drivers plying the route.
Tipper driver escapes lynching
The protesters lit bonfires on the road, while commercial drivers suspended work. They also set the tipper lorry ablaze, but the driver was said to have escaped from the accident scene immediately it occurred.
At the Central Hospital morgue, families were seen coming in to identify their relatives. Contacted, Edo Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Samuel Odukoya, confirmed the incident and said nine persons died.
He said the protesters prevented his men from getting access to the scene.
A bus driver, who gave his name as Osas, said they decided not to work to protest recklessness of tipper drivers in Benin, who have little or no regard for other road users.
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