Some family members from the South-eastern part of Nigeria have perished in a road crash in the middlebelt area of the country.
Some of the deceased family members
The Igbo community in Jos, Plateau State, have been thrown into mourning following an auto crash involving a family of four who were travelling for a wedding in Anambra State.
The victims were indigenes of Ufuma in the Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Although details of the crash were still sketchy, PUNCH METRO learnt that the four victims, out of eight members of a family, were killed when a vehicle in which they were travelling had an accident between Aleyede and Oturkpo in Benue State.
The victims are a patent medicine dealer, Simon Onwubalili; his wife, Ifeoma, who was a staff member of the National Examination Council; a graduate of Medicine awaiting induction into the NMA, Dr Ijeoma Onwubalili; and her sister, Gracious Onwubalili.
However, the driver of the car with number plate, Abuja ABC 105 PH, and one of the family members, Marvel Onwubalili, survived the accident. They were said to be going for Ijeoma’s traditional wedding scheduled for December 31, 2017, when the accident occurred.
It was also gathered that the induction of Ijeoma in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was to take place in the first quarter of 2018. The first son of the family, Onyedika Onwubalili, confirmed the incident, saying “Yes, it is true,” but gave no further details.
Another family member, who did not want to be named, said the incident happened on Sunday.
He said, “Simon Onwubalili and his family left Jos on Saturday en route to their hometown of Enugu Abor in Ofuma, in the Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State. Their chauffeur-driven Toyota Highlander somersaulted on the way. The man had a thanksgiving service in church penultimate Sunday and shared the invitation cards of her daughter’s induction into the NMA.
“They hired a driver to take them home where Ijeoma, who recently graduated as a medical doctor, was to hold her traditional marriage on December 31, 2017.
“Unfortunately, they couldn’t make it as the journey was cut short somewhere along Oturkpo-Enugu Road. The driver was speeding and suddenly found himself in the path of an oncoming vehicle. In an attempt to avoid the vehicle, the car somersaulted several times and they died.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Benue State Police Command, Moses Yamu, said he would get back to a Punch correspondent.
But he had yet to do so as of press time.