Kogi Gov’s Convoy in Auto Crash

Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja

The convoy of the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello was allegedly involved in an auto crash yesterday around the airport junction in Abuja.

The governor had left the state for a meeting scheduled with President Muhammadu Buhari when the incident occurred.

However, Governor Bello’s convoy, while travelling from Lokoja, met gridlock at Jamata bridge in Kogi Local Government Area of the state where some truck drivers were said to be protesting after a soldier allegedly shot the tyres of a truck driver.

According to a statement from the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mrs. Petra Akinti Onyegbule, the drivers quickly mobilised and used their vehicles to block both sides of the highway, bringing traffic to a halt and commuters stranded for several hours.

She noted that it took the intervention of the governor who spent over an hour at the scene of the incident for normalcy to return.

When contacted on the issue of the incident around the airport junction, all the calls to her mobile phone were not answered.

However, source close to the governor disclosed to THISDAY that during the drivers’ protest at Jamata bridge, the security aides of the governor were able to maneuver the governor and some few vehicles from the traffic since the governor was to meet the President 12 noon yesterday.

According to the source, the governor’s vehicle had already left but his back-up vehicle and other vehicles in convoy were involved in the accident at airport road in Abuja.

It was alleged that three vehicles were said to have been involved in the accident, which was caused by a motorcyclist who allegedly rammed into the convoy.

As at the time of filing this report, two of the drivers have been rushed to the hospital while the fate of the motorcyclist was not known.