Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
No fewer than five persons have been confined dead in an auto crash that involved 83 supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto State.
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The victims, according to reports, were returning from the party’s presidential zonal campaign flagged off held in Sokoto.
An eyewitness account said the accident occurred when the truck conveying the party supporters lost control and crashed.
The victims were mainly those mobilised from Isa Local Government Area of the state to attend the zonal rally in the state capital.
He explained that the dead were mostly from Bargaja village in the local government. “Five persons lost their lives; 14 were critically injured while 49 sustained minor injuries. Only seven persons were unhurt out of 83 persons who were involved in the accident.”
Mr Maniru Muhammad Dan’iya, the Director of Press to the State Deputy Governor Alhaji Aminu Abdulahi, confirmed the accident in a statement.
He stated that the deputy governor travelled to Bargaja village to condole the families of the dead.
He said the deputy governor described the incident as both tragic and a great loss to their families of the deceased, the local government and the entire state. “He prayed Allah to grant them Aljannar firdaushi and the fortitude to bear the loss.”
The deputy governor was said to have stood in for the state governor, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who was away to Niger Republic for a meeting to improve on the security challenges facing the Sokoto-Niger axis which Isa Local Government is part of.
“The Deputy Governor conveyed the governor’s condolences to the entire people of Sokoto State over the loss and prayed Allah to grant the deceased mercy.
“The Village Head of Bargaja, Maigari Isuhu Kakale, in his remarks thanked the governor’s delegates and prayed Allah to reward them.
“He expressed happiness with the governor’s show of regard to the people of Bargaja village by sending the deputy governor to the area.
The deputy governor was accompanied on the occasion by the State PDP Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Milgoma, some of state party executives and other party leaders.