Last weekend at about 8:30pm, the Awarra autonomous community in Imo State was thrown into mourning following the killing of the only son of the traditional ruler of the ancient kingdom, Prince Victor Obieze Ezenwoke, by a hit-andrun trailer driver at a police check point along the Owerri/Onitsha Expressway.
According to an eye witness, who pleaded anonymity, Prince Ezenwoke was driving into Owerri, the Imo State capital, that night in his Range Rover Sports car and was already approaching the Asumpta Cathedral area before he met his untimely death at the hands of the unidentified trailer driver.
The trailer, which was said to be stationary at the checkpoint, suddenly began to move and swerved as Prince Ezenwoke’s car attempted to drive past it, resulting in the young man’s car being caught in the tyres of the truck, which immediately crushed the car and its only occupant.
I wonder how long I can bear the pain and I don’t know how soon the wound inflicted on my heart by his gruesome death would be healed
Immediately the accident occurred and the driver of the truck realised that he had killed the occupant of the car, the eye witness said that he increased his speed and escaped from the scene to an unknown destination; without even making any effort to stop and assist the victim now trapped in the wreckage of the car.
When the news of the accident in which the prince of the town was killed got to the community, there was wailing, crying and tears as sorrow enveloped the entire Awarra autonomous community.
When our correspondent joined others on a condolence visit to the family house of the late prince, his aged mother, Madam Adaku Ezenwoke, was seen crying on top of her voice and lamenting the death of her son. The late prince’s distraught wife was also observed crying over the sudden death of her husband.
Also, crowd of sympathisers besieged the palace of the traditional ruler of the ancient kingdom, Eze A.N Ezenwoke, who is also the father of the late prince, to condole with the royal father and his family on the incident. The royal father described the late prince as ,“The only son and best among all who are obedient and heed my calls at all times.”
According to him, the vacuum left with the death of Eva, as he usually called the late prince, would be difficult to fill by anyone as he remained the “best among millions of children on this earth.”
“I wonder how long I can bear the pain and I don’t know how soon the wound inflicted on my heart by his gruesome death would be healed,” the traditional ruler said. He stressed that the runaway driver should be blamed for the death of his son.
Some sympathisers, who could not hide their feelings over the incident, blamed Nigerian security agents for their inability to have arrested the fleeing killer-driver, especially since the accident occurred at a police checking-point.
It was gathered that reports of the accident had been made at various police checkpoints across the South East states, especially at those along the Port Harcourt Road, in order to ascertain the identity of the fleeing hit-and-run driver.
Also, it was learnt that efforts were being made by some volunteers in the community to track down the driver of the trailer.
The family members of the traditional ruler of Awarra are said to have vowed that all measures would be adopted to unravel the identity of the runaway killer-driver. The corpse of the late Prince Ezenwoke has since been deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.
