At least three persons are feared dead and several journalists injured following a tragic auto crash along the notorious Onyeama Hills axis of the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway on Saturday morning.
The accident involved multiple vehicles, including a black Toyota Sienna bus conveying journalists on an official assignment to Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Some occupants of the vehicle—among them crew members from the African Independent Television and the Nigerian Television Authority—sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Those affected include NTA reporter and Chairman of the NTA Chapel, Chimaroke Ugwu, alongside his cameraman, Jerry, as well as AIT reporter and Secretary of the Private Broadcast Chapel, Kelechi Ehirim, and his cameraman, Ifeanyi Ogbodo.
As of the time of filing this report, the identities of the deceased had yet to be confirmed. Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Nigeria Police Force were on ground conducting rescue operations.
The Onyeama Hills stretch of the highway has long been regarded as a high-risk zone due to its steep terrain and recurring accidents.
Reacting to the incident, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Enugu Council, Comrade Obinna Ogbuka, expressed sympathy for the injured journalists and gratitude that lives were spared.
He also decried the repeated fatalities recorded along the axis.
Ogbuka called for urgent completion of the ongoing reconstruction of the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway to curb further loss of lives.
