By Chinedu Chukwulozie
Speculations have long persisted that a significant percentage of traffic crashes in Nigeria go unreported or unpublished, mainly due to the absence of official reports from traffic authorities, for reasons best known to them.
This scenario appears to be
playing out in Anambra State, where the Acting Sector Public Education Officer
of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), RC Margaret Onobe, abruptly expelled a
journalist from a media forum for exposing an unreported fatal crash that
recently claimed lives and injured several others in the state.
According to Anambra-based
journalist Izunna Okafor, his removal from the FRSC Anambra Media Forum
occurred late Friday night, just a few hours after he published a report on a
fatal early-morning auto crash in Awka, the state capital. The report, which he
also shared in the forum and on other media platforms, is attached below:
Two
Transport Workers Killed In Anambra Auto Crash
By Izunna Okafor, Awka
An early morning auto crash has
claimed the lives of two transport workers in Awka, the capital city of Anambra
State.
It was gathered that the
incident occurred at about 6 AM on Friday at the Anambra Comfort Line loading
bay along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, leaving two dead and several others
injured.
Reports indicate that the
victims, a driver and a loader, were preparing a Toyota Sienna for a trip to
Lagos when a Lexus RX 350 lost control and crashed into the stationary vehicle.
Eyewitnesses said the Lexus,
driven by a young man accompanied by a female passenger suspected to be his
girlfriend, was speeding before the collision. While the two transport workers
died on the spot, the driver and his companion emerged unhurt.
Although the Lexus driver
blamed the accident on brake failure, some witnesses suspected distraction,
fatigue, or intoxication.
The ensuing argument heightened
tensions at the scene, as colleagues and relatives of the deceased attempted to
confront the driver, accusing him of reckless driving. However, park
authorities and law enforcement agents intervened to prevent violence. The
driver and his passenger were eventually taken into custody, while officials of
the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in the state cleared the scene.
As of the time of filing this
report, the FRSC had yet to issue an official statement regarding the crash.
However, according to Okafor,
shortly after he published the report and shared it in the FRSC Anambra Media
Forum and other media groups, the FRSC Acting Spokesperson in the state, RC
Onobe, deleted the post and expelled him from the WhatsApp group. The forum,
which serves as a platform for the state FRSC and journalists to interact and
exchange information, is solely administered by Onobe.
Okafor further revealed that
his attempts to reach the FRSC spokesperson for clarification were
unsuccessful, as she neither answered nor returned his calls.
The following day, he contacted
the Anambra State Sector Commander of the FRSC, CC Joyce Alexander, who
absolved him of any wrongdoing and assured him that she would instruct the
spokesperson to reinstate him in the group. The Sector Commander, while
confirming both the accident and the authenticity of the news report,
nonetheless faulted him for not contacting the FRSC before publishing the
story.
Despite this assurance, Okafor
noted that, hours later, he had yet to be re-added to the group.
Moreover, it was gathered that
even 24 hours after the crash, the FRSC had still not issued any official
statement on the incident—raising questions about whether there was a hidden
motive behind both the actions and inaction of the FRSC Anambra regarding the
fatal crash, its media coverage, and the response of the Acting Spokesperson.
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