The Ebonyi State Police Command, on Thursday, said three of the five schoolchildren crushed to death by a truck conveying water at Onu-Nworie Egu village, Oshiri, in the Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, on Tuesday, were of the same parents.
The victims were pupils of St Michael’s Schools, Oshiri.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs Loveth Odah, who spoke to our correspondent in Abakaliki on Thursday, added that the Commissioner of Police, Philip Maku, held a two-minute silence in honour of the victims before the commencement of the day’s work.
Odah, who added that the victims were buried on Tuesday, when their families came and indicated interest to do so, said the command frown on the resort to jungle justice by the villagers in handling the matter.
She stated, “The children have been buried; the truck driver and his motor boy’s corpses are still in the mortuary. What is the matter there again when people have taken the law into their hands? The driver and his motor boy were mobbed to death by the villagers.
“The victims were buried immediately that Tuesday. Their families came and requested that they be buried, because they were so young to be kept in the mortuary. The driver, Innocent Ewa, and his assistant, Denis, have already been killed and so, there is no case again.
“This is jungle justice and it’s not good for our society. In 2020, COVID-19 came and claimed as many lives as possible. Thereafter, #EndSARS came and we as a people have lost many lives and property. This is not good for us. We have lost so much this year and it is advisable that we try not to allow this to continue. Let’s not lose more lives again.”
The driver ran away from the scene of the crash, but angry youths in the area chased and caught up with him at Onicha Igboeze and lynched him and his motor boy.
