Njaba Hill fatal accident reopens old wounds.
2 min read
The Tuesday November 5, 2024 fatal accident that occurred at Njaba Hill which claimed the lives of more than 18 passengers including students who were travelling in an 18-seater commercial bus has indeed opened old wounds concerning the accidents that usually occur at Njaba Hill every December. It can be recalled that the accident that occurred on November 5, 2024 was exactly a year ago when on November 5, 2023 a ghastly motor accident occurred at the same place where many lives were lost.
Around December 2016, another accident at the same place took the lives of two brothers from Umuaka town. Umuaka Times also gathered that in December 2018, another accident that took the life of a mechanic driving a client’s Mercedes car plunged into the river at the same spot. A crane of a construction firm was hired by sympathizers and the police to pull out the Mercedes Benz car from the river.
The last week accident has indeed got the inhabitants of Umuaka, Ekwe and Okwudor towns deeply confused if the root cause of the accidents at Njaba Bridge every November or December is spiritual or as a result of carelessness.
When Umuaka Times reporters arrived at the accident scene shortly after the tragedy, a bus driver who claimed he witnessed the accident told the reporters that it is Njaba River goddess that collects the lives of the accident victims every year. He went further and advised Umuaka, Ekwe and Okwudor communities to unite and carry out a special sacrifice at the bank of the river in order to appease the gods of the river.
Another fellow who also spoke about the accident claimed that the yearly accidents that occur at the Njaba Hill is as a result of highly dangerous sacrifices those she described as “Yahoo boys” carry out at the river every night. “You see, the gods of this river are angry because Yahoo boys have polluted the river with criminal sacrifices in their quest to get rich quick.”
Several people who arrived at the scene of the accident last week seriously complained that accidents at the Njaba Hill are caused by the recklessness of tipper drivers within the three communities that share boundaries around the river. They called on the authorities to caution tipper drivers on safety and defensive driving.
Also last week, the chairman of Njaba LGA Chief Vitalis Obi led other stakeholders in the local council including Honourable member representing the local council at the Imo State House of Assembly Hon Ozioma Worship to Sancta Maria Hospital Obinwanne where they visited the survivors of the fatal accident.
For now, many families are still looking for their loved ones as at press time last week. Whatever the case may be, the death toll from the accident has risen to 20.
