26th March, 2017
Jethro Ibileke/Asaba
The Delta State Government has postponed reopening of public primary and secondary schools in the state on Monday following the death of three school principals and a vice principal in a road accident.
Public schools in the state were to resume Monday, March 27, following the suspension of the three-week old strike by teachers under the aegis of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Delta State wing last Friday.
The accident which claimed the lives of the principals occurred along Benin-Sapele Highway, close to Mosogar Bridge along the expressway, involved a white Toyota Hiace bus with registration number BEN 552 PK.
Identities of the deceased heads of schools and others who sustained injuries in the accident were yet to be made known as at the time of filing this report.
They were said to be coming from Benin City, Edo State capital, where they went for a meeting of the association of secondary school principals which was to hold at Kwale in Ndokwa West local government area of Delta State when the ill-fated bus had a burst tyre.
The development forced the Delta state government to declare Monday a day of mourning for the deceased head teachers.
Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, who announced Monday as day for mourning the deceased in a statement, regretted the death of the three principals and vice principal in a road accident.
He said the ministry “received the news of their tragic and untimely death with great shock. The loss of these dedicated officers at the prime of their service to the state and the nation has created a huge vacuum that would be difficult to fill.
“Our hearts also go out to the other principals and Director of the Post Primary Education Board (PPEB), who sustained varying degrees of injuries in the accident.”
According to him, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has therefore directed that all public schools should be closed today, with the exception of schools being used for writing WASSCE examinations, to mourn the deceased officers.
Okowa commiserated with the bereaved families, colleagues, students, and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured victims.
Ebie stated that normal classes will resume on Tuesday, ahead of the commencement of the second term examination on Wednesday, March 29.
The Delta State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Rindom Kumven, who confirmed the crash to journalists in Asaba, however wrote in a text message that out of eleven persons involved in the crash, two died while nine sustained injuries.
He said the corpses of the dead victims who are both females were deposited at the mortuary of the Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara, in Ethiope West local government area of the state.
Kumvin added that some of the injured victims, including eight females and one male, were taken to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), while others were taken to DELSUTH for treatment.