A newly married couple, Francis Edeh and Ann, along with two others died in a car crash, weekend on the Ugep-Abakaliki Road.
Francis and Ann, both from Ebonyi State and resident in Calabar,
Cross River State, were heading to Abakaliki to thank family members,
who attended their wedding the previous week, Saturday, September 7, in
Calabar.
When they got to Amudo village, some 30 kilometres to Abakiliki,
their vehicle developed an electrical fault prompting them to seek the
services of an auto electrician.
Omaka, an electrician at Amudo told Vanguard: “The man came to my
shop at 4p.m. and said his car had stopped and that he suspects an
electrical fault. So I went with him on an Okada (commercial
motorcycle).”
He said he did his best but could not repair the Toyota Camry car and
sought the assistance of Luke, another electrician in the neighbouring
town, Onueke. When Luke came, there was trouble between the him and late
Ann. Quarrel Omaka said: “Luke took an Okada from Onueke to Amudo and
when he got here, he told Mr. Edeh to pay the Okada man.
“But his wife started shouting, saying why should her husband pay
Luke’s transport fare, when he had not even touched the car.” Omaka said
despite the tensed atmosphere, Luke still went on with the work, but
later advised the couple to leave the car till Monday. He said Ann
became angry and the couple left for Abakiliki.
Omaka said: “They refused to take Luke’s advice. The next day, which
was Sunday, they decided to come back to Amudo with Ortuh, another
electrician in Abakalilki on a chartered vehicle. On the way, the car
had a burst tire and collided, head-on, with a tanker and the four of
them died.”
Drunk driver A cab driver, Ogbada, told Vanguard that Ortuh used to
be a tipper driver before he bought an Audi car with number plate, Akwa
Ibom, AG 727, KST with the money he got from driving the tipper. Ogbada
said: “I was the one the couple contacted first. But I did not want to
go, so I gave it to the tipper driver.
“The man (driver) was drunk that morning and so he collected just
N1,500 from the man even when we asked him to collect the complete sum
for five passengers, which is N1,800 since the transport fare from
Abakaliki to Amudo is N300 and his car carries five persons.” ‘I warned
them’ Luke, the electrician in Onueke, said Ann was quarrelsome.
He said: “I told them not to repair that car till Monday, because my
spirit told me something. But the woman was angry and thought I wanted
to punish them.
“Why did the man have to take his wife again the next day to Amudo to
repair the car? Couldn’t she have stayed in Abakaliki, while he took
Ortuh to repair the car?”
The tanker is still parked at the Onueke Police Station, while the
bodies of the electrician and the driver were taken to their villages
for burial. The couple’s bodies are at Onueke General Hospital mortuary.
No comments:
Post a Comment