It was a terrible sight to behold, as a Mercedes luxury bus that was conveying members of the Lords Chosen Charismatic church from Mgbidi to a crusade ground in Owerri, the Imo State capital ran into a group of about 40 people waiting at Eke Orogwe market square in Owerri West L.G.A, for staff bus that will take them to their offices at the Nigeria Bottling Company popularly called Cocacola located at Onitsha Road Industrial Estate.
Some of those who witnessed the incident which occurred at about 6.30 am, said “the driver of the luxury bus bearing the name of Lords Chosen Charismatic Church, was on very top speed, on its way from Mgbidi, to Owerri, hence he lost control when a tipper came out from an adjoining road within the market square.
Some members of the church who also spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity blamed their driver who they said was driving like a demon possessed person for refusing all entreaties to reduce his speed.
“We begged the driver to slow down right from when we took off at Mgbidi but he refused. This accident would have occurred at the Ogbaku but we escaped it. Yet it has happened less than two kilometers from there. Now, he has sent over twenty-five innocent people to their early graves and ran away”.
A trader at the Eke Orogwe market who does not want his name in print told this reporter that most of those who lost their lives in the ghastly accident were staff of Cocacola who usually converge there to wait for their bus every morning.
He also expressed gratitude to God for saving the lives of the traders in the market most of who had not come to market at the time the accident occurred, adding that the accident would have been more fatal if shops in the market had opened for business.
Most people who commented on the incident noted that it has become an unfortunate mystery that there has consistently been fatal accidents each time the Founder of the Lords Chosen Church, Lazarus Muoka is organizing a programme. “There is always a fatal accident that usually leads to loss of lives and shedding of blood, they urged the relevant security operatives to look into the matter deeply with a view to finding lasting solution”.
