By KENNETH OFOMA, Abakaliki

When he left his house that morning for work, having bid his wife who had put to bed three days earlier goodbye, little did Mr. Joseph Aguzu, popularly called Joe, know that was the last farewell to his family. Although a miner with stone crushing company based in Ebonyi state, a job fraught with hazards, Joe, throughout the years he had put in the profession, never suffered any industrial mishap. And so when he went to work that fateful day, November 11, he had no inkling of what laid in stock for him, this time not in the work place but on the road; indeed he was "successfully" but most unfortunately and tragically ambushed by death through the instrumentality of a reckless hit-and-run driver.

The 42-year-old father of two, an indigene of Amike-Abba in Echiaba Local Council Development Area of Ebonyi state, was riding home with his motorbike, Carter CG 150, after a hard day’s job when a Toyota Hilux van allegedly knocked him down on Afikpo road, Abakaliki, at about 5pm.

An eye-witness, one Osondu Iro, told our reporter that the Hilux van, which was on top speed was following the deceased on his bike, bumper to bumper, when the driver suddenly wanted to veer off into a loading bay belonging to Imo State Transport Company apparently to pick somebody from the park. According to the eye-witness, it was in the process of branching to the park that the Hilux van allegedly hit the motorbike at the rear fender, throwing Joe into the air instantly and he landed with his head on the concrete pavement resulting in his forehead cracking and blood spilling on the road. Joe was said not to have died instantly but became unconscious.

One of the passengers of the Hilux van who was later identified as the Chief Fire Officer of Ebonyi State Fire Service, Bernard Inya Ugwu alighted from the vehicle and in the confusion that ensued, the driver of the vehicle did a u-turn and zoomed off on the wrong lane leaving his boss behind. He was given a chase by passersby and he eventually ran to the state police headquarters. On getting to the police station, he reportedly told the police that some mob were after him. According to reports, the driver was directed to go to the State Traffic Division of the police to report the matter. But he allegedly went to the fire station to hide the vehicle behind the office, after which he went home and never went to the police Traffic Division.

Meanwhile the Chief Fire Officer who was left behind, had his way out though not without some minor scuffles. His saviour was that many people mistook him as a police officer because of his uniform.

After wasting valuable time, attention now shifted to the victim who was already losing a lot of blood. The bystanders flagged down a ‘Keke NAPEP’ tricycle, which conveyed the victim to the Federal Medical Center, Abakaliki. To make the matter worse, at the hospital the doctors who battled to save Joe’s life prescribed some drugs for urgent administration but the drugs were not in stock in the hospital’s drug store. The senior brother to the victim was sent to look for the drugs in other pharmaceutical shops in town. After searching for the drugs in many shops for hours, he succeeded in one shop around 9pm and by the time he came back to the hospital, it was too late as Joe was minutes away from death. He passed on almost immediately.

Ever since his death, however, controversy has trailed the circumstances surrounding the accident. When Joe died in the hospital, his family members went back to the state police headquarters the next day to make enquiries about the whereabouts of the hit-and-run driver and they were referred to the traffic division, which happened to be some six or seven kilometers away on the outskirt of the town. And on getting there, they were told that there was nobody or such report in the station. They visited other police stations in town and environs but no clue came out. They went back to the traffic division and lodged a formal report. It was after the report, that police went to the state fire service and arrested the Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Ugwu, who denied that his official vehicle was involved in any accident. But upon serious interrogation, he admitted being around the scene of the accident on the fateful day but insisted that his vehicle never hit the bike. At this point he was directed to bring both the vehicle and the driver to the police station which he did. The driver of the Hilux van, Innocent Inya Abaga, who was discovered not to be official driver but a relation to the Chief Fire Officer, was detained while Mr. Ugwu was allowed to go as investigation continues. The Hilux van with registration number EB 01 A40 was also impounded and held at the police station.

When our reporter contacted the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Chris Anyanwu, an assistant superintendent of police (ASP) for comments, he requested for more time to get the details of the incident from O/c Traffic. But a source at the traffic division confirmed that the driver of the vehicle was in detention while the matter was still being investigated. He said that police were still trying to put the jig-saw puzzle together as they were brought into the matter two days after the incident. He pleaded that men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) who arrived at the scene of the accident shortly after it happened were in a better position to outline what might have happened. As to whether there was an impact on the recovered Hilux van to show that it hit the motorbike, the officer who pleaded anonymity said that there was an impact, though not much, but that the matter would not be determined based on impact alone considering that there might not be direct hit but a brush which might have resulted in the victim falling off the bike and hitting his head on the concrete pavement.

When contacted however, the FRSC state commander, Mr. Emmanuel Abe confirmed that on the day of the accident he received a call around 4.30 pm and he quickly dispatched his men to the scene of the accident. "But on getting there, my men were told that the vehicle that hit the motorbike didn’t stop, and by then the victim was taken to the hospital. My men followed them to the hospital after which the motorcycle was recovered and brought to our office".

Abe however appealed to motor cycle riders to always wear crash helmet, noting that 67 per cent of traffic accidents recorded in the state from January to November involved motorcycle operators and most of the deaths resulted from head injuries.

The Chief Fire Officer, Ugwu when contacted by our reporter in his office maintained that his vehicle never hit the accident victim. He narrated that he went to the Imo State Transport Company’s Park to pick his mother-in-law on the day of the accident. According to him, after picking his in-law, his driver was still waiting at the entrance of the park trying to join the major road when the accident happened. He said that a traffic light which was not far from the accident scene was showing green and many vehicles and cyclists were rushing to bit the green light when it suddenly turned red and as a result the rushing traffic marched automatic brake and a fellow cyclist hit the victim in the process. The fire officer stated that his first inclination was to go and offer assistance to the victim but on alighting from his vehicle he was assaulted by the surging mob that tore his cloth and removed the spare key and remote control device of the vehicle before the driver sped off. He said it was God that saved his life. He stated that neither he nor his driver went to police to report the matter since according to him, they were not involved in the accident.

When reminded of the allegation that he abandoned his official driver and conscripted his relation who is not a staff of the fire service to be driving his official vehicle, Ugwu noted that he did so because they lacked drivers in the fire station. He stated that when the vehicle was given to him by the Ministry of Public Utilities, the parent ministry, he requested for a driver through writing and the ministry authorized him to engage a private driver and pay him through the over head of the station. The fire officer told our reporter that indeed he was asked similar question by the police and that he gave them same answer based on which they asked him to go and bring the authorizing letter from the ministry for him to engage a private driver. He said he was still searching for the letter when our reporter called on him.

Meanwhile, tears continued to flow at the deceased’s family compound when our reporter visited shortly before filing this report. The deceased’s wife, who is still nursing one-week-old baby, was grief stricken that she could not speak to our reporter. But the brother to the deceased, Mr. Friday Aguzu, narrated in tears the trauma the family is passing through as a result of the demise of their bread winner. He noted that despite overwhelming evidence by eye-witness account, the chief fire officer was still denying the accident and had not cared to come to at least console the family. He said that Joe’s body was still in the mortuary and pleaded with the law enforcement agencies and the state government to ensure that justice is done in the matter.