18 Sokoto Returnees Die In Tragic Accident After Lagos Trip

No fewer than 18 people from Sokoto State have been confirmed dead in a tragic road accident along the Sokoto-Yauri Road in Kebbi State while returning home from Lagos, where they had travelled in search of better means of livelihood.

The victims were said to be among 20 passengers travelling in an 18-seater commercial bus when it collided head-on with a trailer at about 11 p.m. on Monday, leaving 18 occupants dead on the spot and two others injured.

Daily Trust quoted an eyewitness, who visited the scene, as saying the passengers were returning to Sokoto after spending some time in Lagos in search of economic opportunities.

A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Bello Muhammad, who was also a close friend of the deceased driver, said he joined other community members in evacuating the victims after receiving news of the accident.

According to him, they arrived at the crash scene around 4 a.m. on Tuesday and found the commercial bus completely destroyed after the collision with the trailer.

“We were informed that our colleague had been involved in a road accident shortly after Yauri town. By the time we arrived, 18 people had already died and the vehicle was completely wrecked,” Muhammad said.

He explained that the bodies were evacuated to the General Hospital in Yauri, where relatives identified the victims before they were released for burial.

Muhammad added that he personally transported the bodies of victims from Kajiji Ward to their communities for burial.

He identified some of the deceased from Kajiji Ward as the driver, Manniru Sabo, Basiru Shehu, both from Kajiji village, and another victim from a neighbouring village within the ward.

According to him, seven of the victims were from Bingaje and Gudirriga villages in Yabo Local Government Area, while two others hailed from Gada Local Government Area. He noted that the remaining victims came from different communities across Sokoto State.

“Passengers travelling to Sokoto from Lagos are usually picked from different locations based on where they come from in Sokoto. That is why the victims were from different communities across the state,” he explained.

Muhammad disclosed that several of the victims would be buried in Yauri because their bodies were severely mutilated in the impact of the crash, while those taken to Kajiji had already been laid to rest in accordance with Islamic rites.

He added that the two survivors sustained only minor injuries, noting that one of them was the bus conductor.

A close associate of the owner of the commercial bus, Alhaji Shehu Jabo, also confirmed that he participated in conveying the bodies to Kajiji and attended the funeral prayers of victims from Shagari Local Government Area.

Describing the aftermath of the crash as heartbreaking, Jabo said the condition of many of the victims left family members and residents overwhelmed with grief.

“We were overwhelmed with grief because many of the bodies were badly mangled. It was difficult to recognise some of them,” he said.

Jabo alleged that the trailer veered into the lane of the commercial bus, causing the fatal collision.

He further stated that only one of the 20 passengers was from the Gwandu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, while the remaining 19 were indigenes of Sokoto State.

He added that one of the survivors was the bus conductor and recalled speaking with the late driver shortly before he departed for Lagos.

The Chairman of Shagari Local Government Area, Barrister Maidawa Kajiji, confirmed the incident and expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy.

He sympathised with the bereaved families and prayed for Allah to forgive the shortcomings of the deceased, grant them Aljannatul Firdaus and comfort their loved ones in the wake of the devastating loss.