Truck kills 7-year-old boy in Cross River
A seven-year-old primary school student, whose name was given as Ikwo Okon Edet of Ikot Effanga in the Akpabuyo local government area of Cross River state, was crushed by a truck loaded with cement owned by a multinational company.
The girl was reportedly walking back home when the high-speed truck ran off the road and hit her.
The incident was said to have occurred on Friday afternoon.
Eyewitnesses said the truck driver was nearly harassed by angry neighborhood boys because trucks have reportedly been killing children almost daily.
The girl’s grandfather, who is also the community leader, Chief Edet Offiong Effiom, mourned the loss of his granddaughter.
He said that even though it has happened this way, he cannot blame God, nor can any amount equal someone’s life.
He asked Lafarge plc, owners of the trucks, to compensate the family.
Chief Effiom also advised truck drivers not to be reckless and excessive, which he said were not necessary for such a small road, and maintained that there were other road users and even school-age children.
In reaction, the chairman of the Akpabuyo local government council, Hon. Emmanuell Offiong Bassey, denounced the incessant killing of indigenous and other Nigerians by company-owned trucks.
He urged drivers to always drive carefully and observe all safety measures to avoid such unpleasant situations on the road.
The president paid a visit of condolence to the family of little Iquo Okon Edet Offiong, promising that he would follow the matter to the letter.
He thanked the people of the community especially the young people for not taking the laws into their hands even in the face of the greatest provocation.
He attributed most of the killings to the recklessness of truckers who, he said, always overspeed on a single-lane highway.
“These truckers are always running over the speed limit, so if it happens, it is always difficult for them to control and avoid what would normally have been avoided,” he said.
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Truck kills 7-year-old boy in Cross River