Rivers Customs boss involved in road crash, 2 dead -

Uyo—RIVERS State  Comptroller of Customs, Mr. Joseph Effiong, was, yesterday, allegedly involved in a motor accident that killed two yet-to-be-identified persons on Ikot Abasi Road in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.The Comptroller, who allegedly drove himself in his official car marked Customs C D/1 06CS, was said to have attempted to overtake another vehicle in the narrow Abak Ikot Abasi Road when he allegedly crushed two men riding on a motorcycle.An eyewitness told Vanguard that the Comptroller narrowly escaped being lynched by an angry mob before escaping to the private residence of the Divisional Police Officer in Abak.
The eyewitness, who gave his name as Sunday Umoh, said: “As passers-by gathered around the two corpses, temper flared and before you knew it, they went after the Customs Officer.“However, some of us saw when the Custom Officer ran into a private residence that was later identified to be the residence of the DPO here in Abak. That was what saved him because they would have killed him also.”Vanguard also learnt that the timely intervention of the DPO, who called in his men and Joint Task Force, JTF, saved the situation from degenerating into riot.The JTF men stormed the scene of the accident and removed the Comptroller’s vehicle to prevent it from being bunt by the angry mob.However Mr. Saviour Akpan, a Human Rights Activist, who has his office very close to the accident scene, lamented incessant accidents on Abak Ikot Abasi Road and blamed it on the narrowness of the road.Akpan called on state government to dualise the road to avert more deaths, stressing that it was part of government constitutional duties to protect lives and property of her citizens.When contacted, Akwa Ibom State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Etim Dickson, DSP, confirmed the incident, saying “I am aware of the unfortunate incident and we advised the people not to take laws into their hands.”