The Police in Abia and Bayelsa States have absolved a popular transport
\ncompany, Peace Mass Transit, PMT, of complicity in the auto crashes which
\nclaimed 23 passengers, on 22nd and 29th June, in Umuahia and Bayelsa,
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
Recall that a PMT bus crashed with a MAN Diesel truck at Umuahia, killing
\n14 passengers while 9 persons were killed when a Mercedes Benz truck
\ncollided with another bus belonging to the company in Bayelsa state.<\/p>\n
In an Police interim report signed by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO,
\nAkinima, Bayelsa State, ASP Okon Etim, entitled; \u2018Re- Case of fatal motor
\naccident involving a Toyota Hiace bus with Reg no. , ENU 586 XB and a
\nMercedes truck with Reg. no NZN 109 XA, and another report from the State
\nTraffic Office, Police headquarters, Umuahia, signed by Olatubosun Gbenga,
\nthe Police said the driver of the MAN Diesel truck was over speeding and
\ndrove recklessly leading to the crash at Umuahia while in Bayelsa, the
\ndriver of the Mercedes Benz truck swerved from his lane to the lane of the
\nPMT bus where it had a head on collision leading to the death of nine
\npassengers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the report of the accident, the scene was visited, sketch map was
\ndrawn, corpse deposited at the Federal Medical Centre morgue, Umuahia.
\nAccident vehicles were recovered for VIO\u2019s investigation. Photographs of
\nthe vehicles and scene were taken. On the Bayelsa accident, the corpses
\nwere deposited at Paradise Mortuary Services, Zarama. The truck driver,
\nSamuel Kalu is culpable and will be charged to court as soon as he
\nrecovers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing a press conference in Enugu, Chairman and Chief Executive
\nOfficer of PMT, Chief Samuel Maduka Onyishi, who said the company, has been
\nin a mourning mood since the accidents; however lamented the outcry against
\nPMT even when its drivers were not culpable in the two accidents.<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cNobody cared to ask questions about the cause of the
\naccidents or the truck driver; what everybody is saying, Kill Peace, kill
\nPeace. There has been uproar from our customers and the public. We are not
\nunaware of calculated attempts to bring us down. We are blamed even people
\nkill my drivers and passengers. It is only the government agencies that
\ntook a different position. The Police and FRSC have released their released
\ntheir reports on the accidents, now everybody have seen that PMT drivers
\nwere not the cause of the accidents. People judge us from outside because
\nthey are aware of these facts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onyishi disclosed that PMT have well maintained buses fitted with speed
\nlimiters while her drivers are regularly trained on safety measures and
\nappealed to the public to continue to support the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be among the people who developed this country. I started as a
\nbus driver and stopped driving when we got 18 buses. From two buses in
\n1995, PMT has over 3,000, moving passengers across 26 states. All the money
\nI make, I invest them in motor parks and buses to create jobs. I have
\ncreated jobs in over 26 states. PMT has over 4,000 employees. In Nigeria,
\nevery staff has at least 4 dependents. If so much hatred and wickedness is
\nmeted out on me, is it an incentive for us to continue to invest? It is
\npainful.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the company operates a safety scheme for passengers and does
\nnot fail in reaching out to the injured and bereaved families.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Police in Abia and Bayelsa States have absolved a popular transport company, Peace Mass Transit, PMT, of complicity in the auto crashes which claimed 23 passengers, on 22nd and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n