The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has said preliminary findings suggested speeding might be the cause of the Wednesday accident that killed two orderlies in the convoy of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Sector Commander, Samuel Ogar Ochi, who stated this during an exclusive interview with Daily Trust in Abuja, however, said a full scale investigation had been launched into the accident.
He said the accident happened at about 2:45pm, adding that the victims had been evacuated before the arrival of his men at the scene.
He said, “For me as the FCT FRSC sector commander, I got the information about the crash and swung into action by proceeding to the National Hospital to confirm the status of the victims.
“And from what we gathered was that that vehicle could be on the speed. It was going at a particular speed that made it possible for the driver to lose control. That is the picture we are still having, but then, the detail of the crash will be made known after the investigation has been concluded.”
Ochi said he was able to speak with two of the injured victims that were admitted at the hospital, in which he later got confirmation that two persons lost their lives in the accident.
“Honestly, we only have knowledge of four people, which included the two that lost their lives and two others that sustained injuries. And the two injured ones are responding to treatment as I speak to you,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide has called on security agencies to probe and make public the circumstances that led to the accident.
The IYC in a statement released in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, by its National President, Peter Timothy Igbifa, said the accident was a premeditated attempt by some conspirators to end the life of the former president ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The IYC boss said the orderlies used themselves as human shields to protect Jonathan and in the process paid the supreme price.
Describing the action of the orderlies as the highest level of sacrifice, Igbifa said the Niger Delta region and the entire Ijaw nation would continue to remember their heroic deeds.
“It is obvious that some people are after the former president. They want him dead. And we believe it is not unconnected with the constant appearance of his name in the forthcoming 2023 (presidential) election,” the statement said.
Igbifa warned that the entire Niger Delta and the Ijaw nation would rise in an unprecedented revolution that would completely shut down the economy of the country if anything happened to Jonathan.
He called on security agencies to beef up security around Jonathan, saying it would be the highest national embarrassment if anything happened to him through a planned accident.
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