Governir Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom has directed the Commissioner for Health, Dr Dominic Ukpong, to assist the 18 persons injured in the road accident which claimed four lives on Wednesday.
The victims are currently receiving treatment at the Ibom Specialist Hospital.
Emmanuel gave the directive on Thursday, when he paid a sympathy visit to the injured persons at the facility.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the 14-seater bus conveying some staff of the Pioneer Newspapers Corporation, while returning from a social engagement, veered off the road along the Uyo-Oron route, Uyo, and summersaulted several times.
The accident claimed four lives, and left 18 others critically injured. The bus had been overloaded with 22 passengers.
The governor, who was conducted round the wards by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Emmanuel Ekanem, described the incident as “shocking”.
“I received with shock the news of the auto crash involving staffers of the Pioneer Newspapers. We sympathise with the families of those who lost their loved ones and those critically injured.
“I have directed the Commissioner for Health, Dr Dominic Ukpong, to assist those involved in the unfortunate accident,” Emmanuel said.
He prayed God for the quick recovery of the injured, and commiserated with relations of those who lost their loved ones.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Akwa Ibom Council, Amos Etuk, has described as sad and painful, the road crash which claimed the lives of some staff of the Pioneer Newspapers Corporation.
Etuk condoled with the families of those who lost their loved ones and wished those who sustained injuries, a quick recovery. He commended the governor and other state functionaries for the quick response to the situation which, he said, helped in saving many lives of the victims.
The NUJ Chairman appealed to members of the union and other road users to be cautious while using the roads, urging them to obey traffic rules and regulations, especially in the yuletide period.
Dignatries on the governor’s entourage included the Deputy Governor, Moses Ekpo, the Head of Service, Effiong Essien, among others.
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