A devastating road crash on Saturday morning claimed several lives and left many others critically injured in front of the Ebonyi State University Permanent Site Campus.
The accident, which occurred around the Ishieke axis of the busy Abakaliki–Enugu highway, involved a commercial bus traveling from Benue to Onitsha and a 911 truck conveying sachet water from Enugu to Abakaliki.
Both vehicles collided head-on, leaving mangled wreckage, scattered goods, and blood-stained asphalt in their wake.
Eyewitnesses described the scene as horrifying, with bodies trapped in the twisted metal and survivors crying out for help. Rescue teams, sympathizers, and local residents rushed to assist, evacuating both the dead and injured to nearby hospitals.
Anger quickly mounted at the scene, as residents and drivers blamed the Ishieke Police checkpoint for the tragedy. According to multiple accounts, officers had narrowed the road overnight by partially blocking one lane, a move that witnesses say created unsafe driving conditions and directly contributed to the crash.
“The checkpoint has been a death trap for years. The way they block the road at night is reckless, and now innocent lives are gone,” a commercial driver who narrowly escaped the accident lamented.
The Ishieke stretch has long been notorious for fatal accidents, with transporters and commuters repeatedly accusing checkpoint operatives of compromising safety in the name of enforcement.
Saturday’s incident has reignited calls for urgent government intervention, with community leaders and motorists demanding stricter regulation of traffic enforcement practices across Ebonyi State.
Authorities were yet to release an official casualty figure at press time, but hospital sources confirmed that both dead and injured victims were being treated at Abakaliki’s Federal Teaching Hospital.
Residents are urging the state government to act swiftly to prevent further bloodshed on the road, which serves as a key transit route for travelers across the southeast and north-central regions.
