Sokoto recovers drowned auto crash victims’ bodies

Sokoto State government has announced the recovery of five bodies of victims of a commercial vehicle accident that plunged into a river in the state last week.

The incident occurred along Sokoto-Illela road when the vehicle crushed an Okada rider and subsequently plunged into Zalzalu river.

It was earlier speculated that the vehicle was conveying eight people including the driver.

“Having been briefed, the governor instructed the Ministry of Home of Affairs to take charge of the recovery effort.

“Promptly, all relevant agencies the state and federal Fire services, the state emergency management agency, the police and the Federal Road Safety Corps, as well as some expert divers from neighbouring Kebbi State were mobilised to the scene.

“The team worked all night and succeeded on the first day in bringing out the corpse of one victim.

“The following day, two more bodies were found, just as an equal number of bodies was recovered on the third day. All the bodies were deposited at the Sokoto State Specialist Hospital and Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH),” the spokesman of the governor, Muhammad Bello, told Daily Trust.

He added that the car and the motorcycle involved in the accident were yet to be recovered.

The state Ministry of Justice was said to have conducted an inquest into the incident which led to the identification of some of the victims by their relatives, which included one Shuaibu Mai Maciji Isa, a snake charmer, and two of his apprentices.