It is a season of accidents, it seems. A day before the
helicopter crash that killed former Kaduna State Governor, Mr. Patrick Yakowa,
former National Security Adviser (NSA), Lt.- Gen Andrew Owoye Azazi and four
others, the convoy of a former governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma
Mohammed Goje, was involved in a ghastly road accident that killed an
18-year-old man, Haruna Maigari. Two other persons— Jalo Bappa-Sabo and Umar
Adamu— sustained injuries in the accident, which occurred in Tumu village of
Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State.
An Investigating Police Officer
(IPO), Musa Yakubu Salisu, confirmed to reporters in Tumu village that the
Pindiga Police Post reported that the accident occurred on Friday at about 7pm.
According to him, “On Friday, around 7.30 pm, we received a call from the
police office in Tumu that there was a serious and fatal accident; that our
assistance was needed to enable them to take the victims to the hospital.” He
said when he received the call, he rushed to the hospital in Tumu, and he
discovered that the victims were in the Accident and Emergency Ward already
receiving treatment.
The policeman said he left the
hospital when he saw the victims receiving treatment and that it was from there
that the injured persons were referred to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC),
Gombe. According to him, based on investigation, Goje came to Tumu to condole
with the family of Alhaji Maigari Maimanja, father of Haruna, who lost a
sister. Salisu said investigation showed that when the senator’s convoy
arrived, there was a large crowd around it and when the convoy was leaving, one
of the cars crushed Maigari who died in FMC Gombe, while Bappa-Sabo died owing
to injuries he sustained on his heads.
The death of Haruna was a double
tragedy for Maimanja, who being consoled over the loss of his sister, lost a
son while two other children who were critically injured were hospitalised.
Eyewitnesses blamed the accident on the usual rough and dangerous manner “big
men’s” convoys are driven in most parts of the country. The eyewitness who did
not want to be named noted that “they drive as if there is insurance against
death. They drive at such ungodly speed that you would think the drivers are
under some external influence.”
The Federal Road Safety Commission
(FRSC) has often campaigned against dangerous driving by drivers in the convoys
of top government functionaries. It is the poor adherence to the FRSC caution
that has often led to fatalities whenever such convoys are involved in
accidents. Many are also worried about the trend where at every movement, top
government functionaries and politicians are heralded with a long convoy of
cars.
Indeed, the impression is that the
longer the convoy, the more important the personality is in the eyes of the
public. There is little consideration for the overall economic wastage that
goes with such display of vanity. The source queried the wisdom of “taking such
a long convoy to a small village, just to pay condolence”, asking rhetorically,
“Couldn’t the man (Senator Goje) have quietly gone to pay his condolence with
just a car or two?
Why a long convoy of cars and the accompanying
fanfare?” Goje, a former governor of the state, is bound to attract attention;
especially in a rural community such as the one the accident took place. That
should ordinarily call for greater caution among the drivers in the convoy. The
father of the deceased confirmed that Goje visited him to commiserate with him
over the death of his sister.
He added that after the evening
prayers, Goje left the town at about 7 pm with his convoy, stating that the
convoy crushed his son and two others while it was leaving Tumu town. According
to him, the police took his son to Tumu cottage hospital from where he was
referred to the FMC, Gombe where he died.