Posted by Samuel on Sun 05th Dec, 2021 - tori.ng
The little girl was reportedly walking back to her house when the speeding truck swerved off the road and ran over her.
File photo
Daily Post reports that a seven-year-old primary one pupil, whose name was given as Ikwo Okon Edet from Ikot Effanga in Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River State, has been crushed by a cement-laden truck owned by a multinational firm.
The little girl was reportedly walking back to her house when the speeding truck swerved off the road and ran over her.
The incident was said to have happened on Friday afternoon.
Eyewitnesses said the truck driver was nearly mobbed by the angry neighborhood boys because trucks have reportedly been killing children almost on a daily basis.
The grandfather of the girl, who is also the community leader, Chief Edet Offiong Effiom, lamented the loss of his granddaughter.
He said though it has happened this way, he cannot blame God, neither can any amount equal someone’s life.
He called on Lafarge plc, owners of the trucks, to compensate the family.
Chief Effiom also advised truck drivers against recklessness and overspeeding which he said were not necessary for such a small road, maintaining that there were other road users and even school children.
Reacting, Chairman of Akpabuyo local government council, Hon. Emmanuell Offiong Bassey, decried incessant killings of indigenes and other Nigerians by trucks owned by the firm.
He urged the drivers to always drive with care and observe all safety measures in order to avert such ugly situations on the road.
The chairman paid a condolence visit to the family of little Iquo Okon Edet Offiong, promising that he would follow up the matter to the letter.
He thanked the people of the community especially the youths for not taking the laws into their hands even at the highest provocation
He attributed most of the killings to the recklessness of the truck drivers whom he said are always overspeeding on a one-lane road
“These truck drivers are always running above speed limit such that if it happens, they always find it difficult to control and avert what would have been averted ordinarily,” he said.