Photos: Scenes of car accident near flyover, Abak Road in Uyo

A hit-and- run car, said to have been driven by an auto mechanic, was on top speed when the driver lost control of the vehicle, in one of the highways connecting the flyover in Abak Road. No life was lost. It happened today, Tuesday, 29 September, 2015. See more photos after the cut…

Akpabio’s ‘world-class’ hospital not yet completed, says A’Ibom Attorney-General, Nwoko

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

More details, on Tuesday, emerged on why the erstwhile Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, after his involvement in a car accident, failed to seek medical attention at the ‘world-class’ hospital he commissioned before he vacated office on May 29, 2015.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja, the Attorney General of the state, Mr. Uwemedimo Nwoko, disclosed that though the hospital is functional, he said that it has not been activated to 100 percent capacity.
Nwoko made the revelation while debunking ‎reports that the former governor who is currently the Minority Leader of the Senate‎, was after the accident, flown abroad for quality medical treatment.

The AG insisted that Akpabio ‎‎was actually on his way out of the country to visit his family‎ ‎when the car conveying him to the airport ‎ran into a convoy of some United State’s embassy officials‎.
He said: “Let me use this opportunity to correct one wrong impression, the former governor was not flown abroad for treatment. The distinguished Senator was actually on his way out of the country to visit his family that has been on holiday outside the country and he had wanted to move from there to the United States to attend a conference of his colleagues when the accident occurred.

“Recall that the accident occurred in the morning on Monday (August 31), and by 5:30pm he was discharged that same day. There was no serious injury that would have warranted foreign treatment or foreign medical attention.

“It was therefore not correct for people to insinuate that Senator Akpabio was flown abroad. He flew abroad on his own, he wasn’t flown by anybody. He was strong enough on Tuesday to make the trip which he cancelled ‎on Monday because of the accident.

“After the accident, just like every other person who is in a car that had an impact, he had to go to the hospital where they did all manner of checks and confirmed that he had no internal injury, no broken bones and no dislocation. So the doctor certified him fit to make the trip on Tuesday morning.

 “That impression that he went to ‎a hospital abroad for treatment has to be corrected. As for the issue of the hospital he built, I can tell you because I am part of the team that incorporated that hospital.

“‎The hospital is functional. I can tell you that it is a hospital that was commissioned and is still going to be commissioned in phases.

“The first and second phases are functional and working right now, though not all the components of that hospital.

“I am not going to lie to you, the 100 per cent capacity has not been activated. However, assuming that the distinguished Senator needed medical attention, the hospital would have been enough to handle his case.

“But he did not need such medical attention. The National Hospital declared him fit to make the trip and he did so on Tuesday”, the Attorney General added.

Culled from Vanguard newspaper

Crash: Akpabio flown abroad for treatment – Punch newspaper

By Okechukwu Nnodim

A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio, was on Tuesday afternoon flown out of Nigeria to receive medical attention abroad.

It was learnt that the senator, in company with about five of his aides, left the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja aboard a regular private jet that he usually travels with.

Sources at the airport told our correspondent that Akpabio and his team arrived at the General Aviation Terminal, local wing, of the airport around 12.40pm.

It was learnt that the former governor was conveyed to his aircraft by a tarmac bus and was fit physically when sighted at the airport.

An official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, who saw the senator while he was about to board his aircraft, said, “He (Akpabio) was at the GAT local wing of the airport and one of the tarmac buses was used to convey him to his aircraft. He left around 20 minutes to 1pm.

“The flight conveying him on the trip taxied to the international terminal from where it took off. The former governor travelled with his own private flight and had about five persons who accompanied him on the trip. He looked physically okay, although some of the men with him said he might receive medical attention abroad due to the car crash he was involved in on Monday.”

Akpabio, who is currently the Minority Leader of the Senate, was involved in a car accident on his way to the airport to catch an international flight on Monday.

His car ran into a convoy of some United State’s embassy officials while trying to beat the traffic light.

It was learnt that the occupants of the vehicles in the convoy of the US embassy and Akpabio’s driver did not sustain any injury but the senator suffered some injuries in the chest region.

It was gathered that the accident occurred around 7.25am near the Bolingo Hotel, along Abuja Airport Road, in the Central Business District of the FCT, and Akpabio was immediately rushed to the National Hospital, Abuja for an intensive care.

Akpabio, it was learnt, was travelling outside the country on Monday to visit his wife and children when the accident happened.

The US Embassy also confirmed that the convoy of the former governor collided with a suburban jeep belonging to the mission.

The Senior Information Specialist in the embassy, Sani Mohammed, stated that local authorities had commenced investigation into the accident.

The Head, Media Relations and Strategy, Federal Road Safety Corps, Bisi Kazeem, said seven adult males were involved in the crash, adding that three of them including Akpabio sustained injuries and were taken to the hospital.

Culled from PUNCH