Tragedy struck Ogwashi-Uku Junction in Delta State after a series of fatal road crashes claimed nine lives, leaving several others injured and the community in mourning. The double accident, which unfolded late in the evening, has reignited urgent calls for stronger traffic management and road safety enforcement in the state.
According to eyewitnesses, the first crash occurred when a vehicle collision claimed the lives of two people. As residents and passersby rushed to help the victims, a speeding Toyota Sienna veered off and rammed into the crowd of sympathizers. The impact left seven more people dead on the spot and inflicted severe injuries on others.
Those killed included good Samaritans who had rushed to rescue the initial victims, a development that has deepened the grief and anger of the Ogwashi-Uku community. A clergyman, Rev. Kingsley, who witnessed the incident around 9:30 p.m. while returning from Asaba, described the scene as “gruesome,” noting that the blood-soaked ground was evidence of the devastation.
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Residents expressed outrage, insisting the tragedy could have been avoided if proper traffic control, signage, and emergency response units had been in place. “If there were proper traffic management and timely intervention, this wouldn’t have escalated into such a calamity,” one shaken resident told reporters.
Community leaders are now pressing the Delta State Government, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and other authorities to urgently address the lapses by deploying rapid response units and enforcing stricter road safety measures at accident-prone spots like Ogwashi-Uku Junction.
Meanwhile, the FRSC has offered a conflicting account. According to Superintendent Route Commander Patrick Obiagbo, the accident officially recorded by the agency involved a truck and a G.O. Motors vehicle along the Ogwashi-Uku–Issele-Azagba axis, with no confirmed deaths. He added that unless there was another unreported crash, the agency had no records of fatalities at Ogwashi-Uku Junction.
