Posted by By MOLLY KILETE. Abuja, PAUL ORUDE, Bauchi and TIMOTHY OLA, Maiduguri on
Death, the grim reaper, laid its cold hands on the nation on Wednesday evening and cut short the promising lives and career of a Captain and 44 soldiers of the Nigerian Army in one fell swoop.
Death, the grim reaper, laid its cold hands on the nation on Wednesday evening and cut short the promising lives and career of a Captain and 44 soldiers of the Nigerian Army in one fell swoop.
The ghastly accident, which also left five soldiers with severe injuries occurred on the Kari-Potiskum-Maiduguri highway, at about seven o'clock. The nation has been thrown into mourning with the accident being described by observers as the most fatal road crash involving the Nigerian Army since after the civil war.
The soldiers, who had just completed six months United Nations peace-keeping operations in the Darfur region of Sudan, met their untimely death when the truck conveying them to their units in Monguno, Borno State, ran into a petrol tanker and exploded.
The tragic truck was the sixth in the convoy of returning soldiers of the 245 Battalion who flew into the country just on Tuesday from Sudan.
Daily Sun gathered that the soldiers actually took off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, Abuja enroute Monguno, Borno State.
They were being conveyed back to their units where they were to reunite with their families after being away for over six months and their kin who had already got the news of their arrival were in high spirits, making plans to receive them, when the tragedy occurred.
The driver of the petrol tanker, who also got burnt to death along with another occupant, was believed to be heading for Maiduguri when the accident occurred.
According to Army sources, while the five other trucks which were ahead saw the petrol tanker and drove past it, the last truck in the convoy, conveying the deceased soldiers, was unlucky.
Occupants of the five other trucks, who rushed back to the scene of the incident watched helplessly as their colleagues were burnt to death.
Some of the soldiers, who immediately drove to Potiskum, which is about 45 minutes from the scene of the accident to get men of the state fire service to come to their rescue, met a brickwall as they were told none of the fire fighting trucks had diesel.
By the time they got back to the scene of the accident, their colleagues and other sympathizers had been able to put out the fire which raged for about two hours.
Daily Sun also gathered that the Nigerian Army unit in Bauchi, which is one of the nearest to the scene of the accident, mobilized its soldiers to the scene of the accident, but by the time they got there, it was too late.
According to an eye witness account, 'There was an explosion when the vehicles collided. It was a gory sight."
The witness, who pleaded anonymity, said almost all the soldiers in the vehicle were burnt beyond recognition.
'This is really a big tragedy for us," an Army officer who does not want his name in print said.
According to the officer, the 44 soldiers and captain could not be rescued due to the intensity of the fire, adding that the captain and two soldiers were the only ones that were recognized as the rest were burnt beyond recognition.
The charred bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the Bauchi State Specialist Hospital.
Before taking off for their trip abroad late last year, Daily Sun gathered that the soldiers were also involved in a terrible accident on the way to the airport that claimed lives of three soldiers who were said to have died on the spot.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Luka Yusuf, immediately left Abuja for the scene of the accident. He arrived Bauchi airport at exactly 11.30 Thursday morning aboard a military plane.
The COAS, who proceeded to the scene of the accident, was received by the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Mohammed Gadi and the Commandant of the Armoured Corps, Bauchi, Major General Saleh Maina along with other top military and government officials.
The Army boss who looked sad and did not speak to journalists, hurriedly boarded his vehicle and proceeded to the scene of the accident.
A press statement by the Director of Army Public Relations(DAPR), Brigadier-General Emeka Onwumaegbu on the tragedy reads: "The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant-General L. N. Yusuf announces with grief the untimely death of one officer and 44 soldiers of the Nigerian Army who lost their lives last night in a motor accident along Bauchi-Potiskum Road. A petroleum tanker ran into the soldiers convoy.
Their remains have been evacuated to the Bauchi Specialist Hospital mortuary while those injured are receiving treatment. These fine gallants of 245 Battalion were returning to their unit in Monguno, Borno State from Abuja where they arrived on Tuesday May 20th, after serving six months with the UN Peace-keeping mission in Sudan. The COAS, who has left Abuja this morning for the scene of the accident, extends his condolence to the family members and loved ones of these gallant soldiers. Meanwhile an investigation into the cause of the accident has been instituted."
Meanwhile, the 45 soldiers will today be buried today at the National military cemetery in Abuja.
A statement from the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja, signed by the Deputy Director, Defence Information, Navy Captain S. S. Hungiapuko, on behalf of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Andrew Owoye Azazi said five other soldiers who sustained various injuries in the ghastly accident are currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
The statement added that already, families of the affected soldiers, had been informed of the tragedy and arrangement had been concluded to transport them to Abuja to witness the burial ceremony and that the families of the deceased soldiers and officer have been assured that the ultimate price paid by their loved ones on behalf of the nation would not be dumped into the dustbin of history.
As a mark of honour to the departed soldiers, the DHQ has directed that flags be flown at half mast in all military formations across the country as well as the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Headquarters.
Similarly, all appointments and official engagements at both the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Headquarters were cancelled yesterday as mark of honour to the dead soldiers.
Bodies of the deceased soldiers were expected to arrive Abuja Thursday evening to be deposited at the National Hospital mortuary for burial this morning.
The Nigeria military had on September 17, 2006 been hit by a similar tragedy when an 18-seater Dornier 228 Air Force transport plane, carrying 15 senior army officers and three crew members crashed leaving only three survivors that sustained serious injuries. The plane with registration number 228-212 went down at Oko village in Vandeikya local government area of Benue State. The military officers were members of a committee set up by the government to reposition the Nigerian Army.
The crash was the second major air disaster involving top military officers in the country.
Fourteen years earlier, precisely on September 26 , 1992, a Nigerian Air Force C-130 transport plane carrying top military officers had crashed in Ejigbo near Lagos, minutes after leaving Lagos airport. All passengers died in the crash, 173 bodies were found, 27 missing.