Easter tragedy: 8 feared dead at Deeper Life retreat •2 children involved, many injured • Akwa Ibom: Auto crash claims former commissioner
IN what is described as the worst Easter tragedy in Ilorin, about eight people including two children, were feared dead in a tragic occurrence during the
Easter retreat organised by the Deeper Life Bible Church Ilorin, Kwara State.
Sunday Tribune gathered that the incident was caused by rainstorm which caused a pillar at the camp site to collapse and fall on the worshippers at the church’s camp site located at Eyenkorin on the outskirts of the state capital on Friday morning.
It was also gathered that one of the victims was a Pastor with the church, who had gone to donate blood at the hospital in the wake of the tragedy which also left several worshippers injured.
It was learnt that the Pastor, who was riding on a motorcycle ran into an oncoming vehicle and died on the way to the hospital.
The storm had accompanied the first heavy rainfall witnessed in the Kwara State capital, as the rain, which lasted for about two hours began at about 12.30 am.
The Kwara state’s police public relations officer, Dabo Ezekiel ASP, only confirmed the death of the pastor and claimed that several others only suffered injuries.
However, it was gathered that seven people died from the rainstorm havoc apart from the Pastor.
Sources at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital confirmed that three of the victims were brought in dead (BID) along with one woman and two children.
“Three of the people were brought in dead apart from two children and a woman who were in critical conditions. They were brought into the ward and given folders. Two others died while receiving treatment, one of them inside the theatre”, a source who did not want his name mentioned said.
Speaking in a telephone interview, a family source said that the casualty figure had risen to seven; five adults and two children as at Saturday afternoon.
The source who was at the home of a parent to one of the children lamented the fate of the pastor who had rallied round to help the injured.
No Pastor from the church was available for comment as at the time of filing this report. Newsmen were referred to a Wing Commander Cindar (rtd) said to be the Chief Security Officer of the Camp.
He confirmed the incident but denied that any life was lost, saying that the victims were recuperating at the hospital.
Meanwhile, few days after the dissolution of the Akwa Ibom State executive council by the governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, the immediate past commissioner for youths and sports, Pastor Oyong Asuquo has died in a fatal auto crash.
The former commissioner, Sunday Tribune gathered, was involved in the crash while on his way from his Oron hometown, where he had gone to make arrangements for the local government election primaries in his council area early Saturday morning.
A reliable source told our reporter that Asuquo, who drove home from Uyo on Friday evening, had received a distress call on his cell phone to attend an urgent meeting in Uyo, about 40 kilometres away from Oron.
While driving at top speed to meet up with the appointment, the source said he swerved from the main road and hit the pavement on the road side, a hit that made the car tumble. Though he did not die on the spot, he was in critical condition, bleeding profusely and was rushed to Domingo Specialist Hospital along Ben Udo Street, Ewet Housing Estate for medical attention.
