A truck on Monday crushed to death two final-year students of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state.
The deceased, Abasifreke Okon and Irene Edwin, both close friends, were National Diploma students of laboratory science technology.
They were ferried back from school on a motorcycle when the truck rammed into them along the Aba-Ikot Ekpene Highway.
The incident which occurred 24 hours before their final diploma examination prompted the management of the institution to postpone the examination.
The spokesperson of the polytechnic, Gloria Udoudom, who confirmed the accident to PREMIUM TIMES, described the incident as “tragic”.
“Yes, I can confirm,” referring to the accident. “They were on a bike (motorcycle) – the two friends and this Pepsi truck ran into them, killing the bike man too,” Mrs Udoudom said.
The police spokesperson in the state, Odiko Macdon, when contacted said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.
Several students of the polytechnic have reportedly been killed at various times by vehicles plying the ever-busy Aba-Ikot Ekpene Highway.
Some of the polytechnic students live in Ikot Ekpene city, some kilometres away from Ikot Osura, and commute to school daily, using commercial motorcycles, otherwise known as okada, which is risky because of speeding vehicles on the highway, especially trucks travelling between Akwa Ibom and Abia State.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
