16 burnt to death in bus mishap as NSCDC chases driver

From Maurice Okafor, Enugu
Sixteen passengers in a commuter bus in Enugu metropolis on Thursday died when the bus conveying them slid into a valley off Miliken Hills and cut fire.
All the passengers were burnt to death. The driver was allegedly fleeing from officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), who were pursuing him.
There were claims that one of the NSCDC officials shot at the tyre which forced the vehicle to swerve off the road and fell into the ditch off Miliken Hills along the old Enugu-Onitsha Road, near Ngwo community.
The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Dan Mallam Mohammed, confirmed the incident to news men. He described it as unfortunate, stressing that they would not allow anyone to jeopardise the peace in the state.
His words: a�?What happened is very unfortunate, especially with the peace we are enjoying. This kind of thing should not be allowed. Thata��s the reason why I am here. I have appealed to them to leave everything to us.
a�?Investigation has started. We asked the people who witnessed what happened to come forward and give us discreet statements to help in our investigation. We are assuring them that whoever is involved is going to be brought to book.
a�?As far as I am concerned, these people you are seeing, they are the major stakeholders, if they are not here, I have no business being here; thata��s why I left my office to appeal to them. The peace we are enjoying should be sustained,a�? he said.
The NSCDC spokesman, Denny Manuel Iwuchukwu, said that no gunshot was fired on the l bus involved in the accident.
a�?We have a directive from the state government that nobody should pick passengers along that road. So, when the driver stopped to pick passengers, our operative told him that it was wrong for him to do that.
a�?As our man entered the bus, he zoomed off with him. So, other officers on ground chased after him. In the process, the bus fell into the ditch. We chased after the vehicle because he drove off with our man. However, no gunshot was fired,a�? he claimed.