7-Year Old Boy Crushed By Truck in Cross Rivers State

A cement-laden vehicle operated by a multinational company crushed a seven-year-old primary one student from Ikot Effanga in Akpabuyo Local Government Area in Cross River State named Ikwo Okon Edet.

A speeding truck apparently drove off the road and ran over the tiny child as she walked home.

Supposedly, the incident took place on a Friday in the late afternoon.

As a result of trucks allegedly murdering youngsters on a daily basis, witnesses claim that the truck driver was nearly swamped by the irate local lads.

Chief Edet Offiong Effiom, the community leader and grandpa of the girl, expressed his sorrow at her death.

He insisted that despite the fact that things have turned out this way, he could not place the responsibility on God and that no amount of money could ever be equivalent to the life of another.

He demanded that Lafarge plc, the company that owned the vehicles, pay the family’s damages.

According to Chief Effiom, truck drivers should avoid recklessness and excessive speed on this narrow road because there are other road users, including schoolchildren.

Hon. Emmanuell Offiong Bassey, Chairman of Akpabuyo local government council, responded by denouncing a pattern of killings by company-owned trucks of indigenous Nigerians and other citizens of the country.

Drivers were reminded by him to always drive with caution and adhere to all safety precautions in order to avoid similar incidents.

The chairman paid a visit to the family of Iquo Okon Edet Offiong to express his condolences and vowed to follow through on his promise to do so.

He congratulated the residents of the neighborhood, in particular the youngsters, for their refusal to break the law even in the face of the most outrageous provocations.

He blamed the truck drivers’ carelessness for the majority of the fatalities, claiming they were routinely traveling too fast on a one-lane road.

As a result of their inability to regulate and avert what could have been avoided otherwise, these truck drivers are constantly exceeding the posted speed limit.