Posted by By Chidiebere Iwuoha on
As uncertainty lies over the real perpetrators of the 4th March, 2005 tragedy that befell students of Owerri Girls Secondary School, whose death toll has now risen from 3 to 7
As uncertainty lies over the real perpetrators of the 4th March, 2005 tragedy that befell students of Owerri Girls Secondary School, whose death toll has now risen from 3 to 7, with others receiving medical treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, the Chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state, Chief Alphonsus Asomugha a.k.a. Mayor has stated in unequivocal terms that it was not his men that attacked the trailer that hit the students but the task force of the Owerri Municipal Council.
Chief Asomugha who was having a chat with newsmen, produced a sticker with the image of the Owerri Municipal Council Chairman, Oshieze Vincent Ehirim, stating that the members of the task force working for the Municipal were pursuing the trailer with the hope of collecting the sum of N50, 000.00 as a penalty for not having the sticker, and in the process they ran into the innocent school girls.
He made it clear that the task given to his men was the clearing of illegal parks and markets to avoid street trading, and this they had done successfully without causing some accidents.
Mayor, who said he was baffled when some people pointed accusing fingers at him for causing the tragedy, disclosed that for several months now, his men had not been working on the road, that they were not even on duty on that fateful day, but that Owerri Municipal Council Workers took over from them long time ago.
Mayor also told the newsmen that when this matter came up some time ago, it was reported to the Police and the people were locked up, but to his greatest surprise, the Owerri Municipal Council Chairman, Vincent Ehirim released them, claiming they were on bail.
He condemned in absolute terms, perpetrators of the tragic incident that took the lives of the innocent students. For him, "it is a big shock that small innocent students died. I pray God to bring the perpetrators out and punish them.
Government should also tackle this issue headlong and dig these people out. If in the process they find out that I or my men caused the tragedy, they should not hesitate to jail me", concluded Mayor who traced the sour relationship between him and Oshieze Vincent Ehirim to when he (Mayor) employed his (Ehirim's) brother, Odinaka Osuji, an action which the Owerri Municpal Council Chairman was totally against.