Panic erupted today, along the busy Summit road in Asaba, Delta State Capital, when a vehicle belonging to the Delta State Traffic Management Authority (DESTMA) crashed into a Toyota Corolla and a mini truck, leaving an infant, her mother, and three other occupants narrowly escaping death.
Eyewitnesses narrated that the incident occurred when DESTMA officials attempted to intercept a mini truck they accused of violating traffic regulations. In what observers described as reckless and impatient driving, the DESTMA Hilux attempted to block the mini truck by double-crossing the road, but in the process, slammed into a Corolla that was ahead of it, which in turn was hit from behind by the mini truck due to the abrupt stop.
The Hilux struck the passenger side of the Corolla, where a nursing mother and her baby were seated. The impact left the vehicle visibly damaged and its occupants trapped momentarily. Passersby rushed to the scene and managed to rescue the woman and her child, who were visibly shaken by the ordeal.
The owner of the Corolla, a woman estimated to be in her 50’s, expressed her outrage and confusion over the incident.
“They never signaled me to stop,” she said. “I was just driving when suddenly this Hilux rammed into me as if I had committed a crime. And then the driver tried to drive away. I couldn’t believe it.”
The occupants of the mini truck were also trapped in their vehicle for several minutes before they were rescued. The truck’s door had to be forcefully removed due to the compression from the impact.
One DESTMA official, who tried to narrate the sequence of events, admitted that he had earlier informed his colleagues about two vehicles allegedly violating traffic laws. According to him, one was the mini truck whose occupants were reportedly not wearing seatbelts, and the other was a red Corolla that had disobeyed traffic signs. “But I believe my colleague misread the message and went after a different Corolla — an ash-coloured one,” he said.
The DESTMA driver, in his statement, claimed that he did not intend to stop the woman in the ash-coloured Corolla, but rather the mini truck. However, he failed to clearly explain why he crashed into her vehicle in the process of attempting to stop the truck.
When contacted for comments, the Director General of DESTMA, Mr. Benjamin Okiemute, initially dismissed the account of the incident. However, after being confronted with detailed evidence, he took a more combative stance by issuing treats to our reporter.
“Mr. man, always do proper investigation before you go to press,” Okiemute said. “The lady with the child and the owner of the vehicle, they are in our office here. The agency has already gone to replace the bumper for the woman. The bumper has been replaced now. If you do your report, be ready to follow up in court. You should be very careful about your journalism. I’m not that type. Go and ask of me. If you write anyhow issue, you will see yourself.”
However, the incident has sparked renewed concerns over the tactics and operational procedures of the traffic agency in the state capital.
Reacting to the incident, an eyewitness who identified himself as Sunday Mudiaga said, “The action of this DESTMA officials is becoming something else. They don’t do things with discretion, they are just after money not even how to make our road safe, one day if they are not careful they will burn then and their vehicle. Just imagine if something has happened to this little child, it’s not this story we are talking.’
