It was chaos in Utu Etim Ekpo, Akwa Ibom State, as a flour-filled truck, fleeing military officers, veered off course and smashed into shops.
The collision, which struck at the heart of the Etim Ekpo Local Government Area, left three dead—including a lawyer—and several others wounded.
The incident, as described by locals, occurred around 8 p.m. on Monday when the truck, having jumped the military checkpoint at Nkwot Ikot Ebo along the Iwukem-Etim Ekpo-Abak Road, was chased by a military patrol team before crashing.
An eyewitness, Eno Umanah, who was also a motorcyclist, recounted that the truck, loaded with flour and heading toward Abak from Iwukem, was flagged down at the soldiers’ checkpoint at Nkwot Ikot Ebo but the driver, however, ignored the command and continued without stopping.
“The soldiers pursued and overtook the truck, but the driver still refused to stop, speeding towards them. The soldiers scampered for safety, as the truck continued on speed, descending the slope towards the roundabout, and it was impossible to navigate safely at that speed, and the driver lost control and veered off the road, crashing into a line of makeshift shops by the motor park and killed the unsuspecting victims. The lawyer’s name is still unknown.”
Akaninyene Umanah, a resident from the area, alleged that the road has been the site of many fatalities, including those of worshippers coming back from a church convention. Residents blame the poor design and construction of the roundabout for the deadly incidents.
The civil engineer called attention to the “poor and irregular alignment” of the road, attributing it to the contractors’ work. He also claimed that a notable politician from Etim Ekpo had colluded with government officials to change the road’s design during its construction years ago.
“I talked about that roundabout years ago, and I was accused of insulting elders of Etim Ekpo.
”That structure needed to be removed from that spot or a proper roundabout reconstructed to save peoples live.
“If you are coming from the stadium to that roundabout, it’s very risky due to the sloppy nature of that portion of the road. I hope this is taken seriously with another fatality experienced,” he said.
Sources revealed that a female survivor, whose legs were severely mangled in the recent accident, was turned away from both Divine Love Hospital in Utu Ikot Imonte and the Utu Etim Ekpo Government Hospital.
In excruciating pain, the woman was urgently transported to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), located 45 minutes away from the crash site.
