by crossriverwatch admin
A taxi cab said to be carrying traders who were on their way to Onitsha, Anambra State to buy goods crashed into a deep drainage along MCC Road Calabar this morning after armed robbers gave it a hot chase in order to rob the traders.
According to Ukpong, an eye witness who lives at MCC Road, the taxi with registration number XA 303 UFG was driving from the Marian Road axis and was heading towards Mobile Filling Station along the Murtala Mohammed Highway at about 5:30am when the robbers who apparently were aware of the destination of the taxi and its passengers, laid siege for it at Efie Ete Junction.
The robbers attempted to stop the taxi but the driver who initially thought it was police men but on realizing that it was robbers sped off and the hoodlums went after.
The taxi which was on top speed and apparently out of fear the driver lost control and rammed the taxi into the deep drainage opposite Channel View Hotel.
The loud bang caused by the crash attracted the security men at the gate of the Channel View hotel who rushed out to behold what caused the loud bang. “When we came out, we saw a taxi inside the gutter and another car standing close by but as soon as we got near some people rushed into the other car and sped off”, Ikpi a security guard with Channel View Hotel told CrossRiverWatch.
Ikpi said it was after the occupants of the taxi were extricated from the wreck that one of them who was still conscious “told us that they were chased by robbers and the driver lost control and they ended up in the ditch”.
Ikpi said some of the occupants were unconscious as they sustained severe injuries on their heads and other parts of the body and had to be rushed to the Teaching Hospital in Calabar for medical attention.
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