By Izunna Okafor, Awka
No fewer than eleven artisans and four family members escaped death in Awka, Anambra state capital on Sunday, as a car rammed into a paint shop, known as the Divine Prince Iyke Investment.
The incident occurred at about 12:47 PM at the popular Ọgbọ Ọrụ section of the Eke Awka Market, which is also the only place where different artisans and other labourers are hired for jobs.
Eyewitness accounts have it that the vehicle, Baby RAV4 (with the registration number: AFM 506 AA), was coming out to the Ọgbọ Ọrụ road from a church shortly after service, before it lost control, skipped the gutter, and sped into a paint shop on the opposite side of the road, crushing many buckets of new paints.
Recounting how it happened, some of the lucky artisans recalled that many of them, numbering up to eleven, were previously staying at that same spot where the accident occurred, discussing as they were waiting for job, with some of them even sleeping due to lack of job.
They, however, noted that few minutes after they shifted from that spot to another spot in the same line, the next thing they saw was as a vehicle speedily ran from an opposite direction and crashed into one of the shops in which front they stayed moments ago.
“Indeed, God has celebrated Christmas for us by delivering us from this. What could I have explained to my family?” one of the eyewitnesses, Rufus Anigbo, confessedly wondered in an interview with this reporter. He further affirmed that the
On his own part, the owner of the damaged shop, Ibe Iyke Emmanuel, who started with appreciation songs to God for delivering him, said he received a distress call at about 1.pm, informing him that a vehicle rammed into his shop.
This, he said, was coming some minutes after someone has severally called him to come and sell some goods to him at the shop, which he declined to go, without knowing that such accident was looming.
While thanking God that no life was lost in the incident, Prince Iyke, however, regretted that goods worth over three million, five hundred thousand naira (over N3.5 million) were destroyed.
He further lamented that over 80% of the goods in the shop were bought by him about three days ago ahead of Yuletide, only to be crushed and shattered in the crash. He also decried that the incident would significantly affect his business this Yuletide.
This reporter, upon arriving the scene, observed that the crashed vehicle had been tolled away, while spectators were seen discussing the accident and the circumstances surrounding situation, while also evacuating the spilled liquid paints.
