Wife of the President, Mrs. Patience
Jonathan, and the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, on Sunday
mourned some prominent women from the statewho died in a motor accident
in Rivers State.
Although the two-paragraph statement by
her spokesman, Ayo Adewuyi, did not give the circumstances surrounding
the death, the Federal Road Safety Corps in Bayelsa State said the wife
of the Secretary to the State Government, Elizabeth Allinson-Oguru, and
10 other women died in a ghastly road accident on Ahoada/Elele section
of the East-West Road on Saturday night.
It was learnt that the deceased were
coming from Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State where they had
gone to pay a solidarity visit to Mrs. Jonathan.
The statement read, “The First Lady,
Dame Dr. Patience Faka Jonathan wishes to commiserate with the
Government and people of Bayelsa State, over the death of some prominent
Bayelsa women in a motor accident around Elele in Rivers State, on
their way to Bayelsa.
“The First Lady prays the Almighty God
to grant the souls of the deceased eternal rest and the families the
fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
The FRSC Sector Commander in the state,
Mr. Vincent Jack, said on Sunday that the preliminary report released to
him by his men indicated that apart from the deceased, 18 persons were
injured.
He said the 11 women were killed on the
Ahoada/Elele Section of the East-West Road in Rivers State on Saturday
night when the bus conveying them to Bayelsa State went up in flames.
Explaining that 29 persons in three
separate vehicles were involved in the road crash, Jack, who forwarded
the report of the accident to newsmen on Sunday, stated that those who
died in the accident were burnt beyond recognition.
Jack explained that the report showed
that the accident was caused by burst tyre, adding that the injured were
immediately rushed to Madonna Hospital along Elele Road by operatives
of the Nigeria Police Force.
He also identified the three vehicles
involved in the accident as a Toyota Hiace Bus with Registration Number
GBB591FS, a Toyota Siena (ABU640AE) and a Toyota Highlander Jeep (YEN
371RJ).
It was learnt that while the corpses of
two of the dead women were taken to a nearby mortuary, nine others were
burnt beyond recognition.
A source disclosed that some of those
involved in the accident were an ex-member of the state House of
Assembly from Brass Local Government and Special Adviser to Governor
Seriake Dickson, Mrs. Ruby Benjamin and ex-Commissioner for Women
Affairs during Timipre Sylva’s administration, Mrs. Gimbra Panowei.
Others, according to the source, are a
woman Leader from Otuoke Community in Ogbia Local Government Area, Madam
Consider Amadi, wife of the owner of Ayakpor International Schools,
Mrs. Inamamu Ayakpor.
Mrs. Ebisinte Ayabowei, who is an ex-commissioner in the state, was said to have escaped death during the accident.
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Governor,
Mr. Henry Seriake Dickson, on Sunday, expressed shock over the death of
the wife of the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Edmond
Allison-Ogoru and a group of other women in a ghastly road accident.
Dickson, who spoke through his Chief
Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Marson, described the incident as a
monumental and painful loss to the people of the state.
“The Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry
Seriake Dickson, has expressed deep pains, shock and grief over the
sudden death of the wife of Professor Edmond Allison-Oguru, the
Secretary to the State Government and a group of prominent Bayelsa Women
in a fatal road accident along the Ahoada/Elele section of the
East/West Road in Rivers State,” the statement read.
The governor also described the women
that died during the accident as “our mothers and sisters,” even as he
prayed God to grant their families the courage and strength to bear the
losses.
The road accident, according to the
governor, had forced him to suspend official engagements for three days
as a mark of honour for the souls of the departed women.
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