As many as eight Madonna University students in Okija, Anambra state, have perished in a truly tragic development.
According to reports, the students were involved in a fatal accident on their way to Taraba State.
SaharaReporters found out about the accident on Saturday night when students were said to be heading home for the upcoming general elections.
Matthew Mbam, a Facebook user, announced the unfortunate incident on his page, stating that it occurred in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, at the TTC/Special Science school junction along the Trans-Saharan Road.
Mbam said that the bus carrying the students caught fire and was completely destroyed, describing the accident as “horrific.”
Ten students reportedly survived the accident and were transported to the Alex Ekwueme Teaching Hospital in Ebonyi State. Eight passengers on the bus were reported to have perished.
He wrote, “What an awful scene!!! This horrific scene was exactly at the TTC/Special Science School junction along the trans-Saharan road when I returned from Nwezenyi, Igbeagu, Izzi, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, where I had gone to pick up some people on Sunday evening.
“Actually, I also passed in the morning when I went to drop off the people I was going to pick up this evening, but I didn’t see the scene because the place was empty and there weren’t a lot of people there.
“I decided to park my car by the roadside and came out to find out what really happened after seeing the crowd of people and some army officers around the burned vehicle. I was informed that the accident took place yesterday evening, Saturday, February 18, 2023.
“I met the soldiers who accompanied the relatives from Taraba State directly to ask them what happened with the burned vehicle after asking some of the people there, who all declined to tell me what really happened.
They informed me that the bus was coming from Port-Harcourt and would be carrying Madonna University students and some parents returning to Taraba State for a break in preparation for the upcoming elections.
“The story further has it that 8 understudies/a parent are the chelated bodies/cinders that were sung to the point of being indistinguishable. Additionally, a bus that had been involved in a head-on collision with a Siena car caught fire, allowing seven people who were in poor health and are currently being treated at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki to escape.
“Nawa o! Since I was born until this day, I have never witnessed anything like it!
Yes, excessive speeding and distractions, primarily caused by driving while falling asleep intermittently, are major contributors to this kind of accident.
“May private and commercial drivers take this into consideration. To prevent some of these “unexpected events,” which the Bible says “overtake all,” may people also limit their travel, particularly now.
On his page, one of the deceased’s parents expressed their grief over their daughter’s passing.
Grace Usman Ezra, I had no idea that enrolling in Madonna University would result in your untimely death. Yesterday, 18 of you left Madonna for Jalingo only to learn that your bus was involved in an accident and caught fire; eight of you exited the bus. Ten of you are doing well, and the others are alive. I hope you recover quickly, and may God comfort all of us who lost children.