According to reports, a Nigerian Army officer was killed in a car accident that happened near the residence of Barrister Onyeyichi Nwebonyi, the senator-elect for the Ebonyi North zone.
The man, identified as Friday Nwokpor Ogbulemini, was reportedly driving a Sienna with the license plate EKY10B, Lagos line, and was involved in an accident on the Ogbogbo Ekebeligwe Ishieke bridge in the Ebonyi LGA of Ebonyi State.
According to Uche Okeagu, a commercial motorcyclist who served as our source, Friday Nwokpor Ogbulemini was in his automobile on that fateful Saturday night as he traveled from Ebonyi LGA's Nwori Isophumini Mbeke Ishieke to Ezza North LGA.
Unfortunately, on Friday, when he arrived at the Ogbogbo River, which has a dangerous wooden bridge, he was unable to control the speed of his car and it overturned while he and his younger brother, Chinedu Nwokpor Ogbulemini, were inside. Chinedu Nwokpor Ogbulemini suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident.
The driver and his younger brother were taken to the hospital right afterward, according to Okeagu, but the former eventually passed away while the latter is still receiving care there.
The corpse from Friday has been placed in the mortuary at Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital (AEFETHA 1), he also revealed.
Chief Lazarus Nwoyibe, the village chief of Ekebeligwe Mbeke Ishieke in the Ebonyi LGA, was another source who bemoaned the deplorable state of the Ogbogbo Bridge, the scene of the tragedy.
The bridge, he said, connects the Mbeke Development Center to its equivalent in Ebonyi, and many lives have been lost there as a result of its dangerous condition, particularly during the rainy season.
The community leader claimed that his Ekebeligwe Ishieke village's residents spend at least 2 million Naira a year to restore the bridge to prevent it from collapsing or being swept away by a flood or river.
Nwoyibe, however, demanded government action, pointing out that although the aforementioned Ogbogbo bridge is located along the Nwiboko Obobo route, which connects the states of Ebonyi and Benue, its terrible state has badly impacted traffic and local businesses.
Adding his voice, Comrade Emmanuel Nwebonyi Oge, President of the Federated Ekebeligwe Ishieke Association (FEYA) in the Ebonyi LGA, referred to the Nwiboko Obodo road as a Federal route and said that it connects to Benue State from the Ishieke axis in Ebonyi State.
He acknowledged that numerous lives had been lost at the bridge since all efforts to restore it by modern standards had failed.
To prevent further records of such fatal casualties, he pointed out that the residents of the community have been supportive of the government in power, particularly during the elections. He urged the relevant authorities to take immediate action by reconstructing the bridge and paving the remaining portion of the Nwiboko Obodo road.
Others who spoke with our reporters, including FEYA Vice President Samuel Nwoba and the head of Ekebeligwe Ishieke Vigilante Security Clement Nwanshi, revealed that the deceased driver is said to have been traveling at a high speed during the night of last Saturday without being aware of the poor condition of the bridge, which is the site of the accident.
They also praised Chief David Umahi, the outgoing governor of Ebonyi State, for paving the Ndiebor Ishieke axis of the aforementioned Nwiboko Obodo road and urged the incoming administration to step up its efforts to finish the Mbeke Ishieke axis of the road and build the bridge in the modern class to prevent further occurrence of such uncivilized incidents in the region.
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