No fewer?than 18 people were?injured on Saturday?afternoon when a commercial bus?lost control and crashed into a pole at the Abuja city gate,?the News Agency of ?Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The bus, an 18-seater with registration number XH 479 BEN?lost control and rammed into a street light before somersaulting into a drainage.
A NAN correspondent who was at the scene of the incident reports that no life was lost.
A victim, Joy Michael, told NAN that the bus which left?Wuse enroute?Lugbe had 18 passengers including the driver who was?on high speed at the time of the incident.
Michael said that?the driver refused to reduce his speed in spite of?several warnings from the passengers to slow down.
“I thank God nobody died, it was so terrible, we warned him on several occasions but he would not listen; he was trying to avoid another vehicle when he lost control.''
The quick arrival of officers of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)?at the scene of the accident?saved the situation as they?evacuated the victims to the National Hospital, Abuja.
An official of the FRSC, Mr Garba Abudullahi, said that the accident?was?as a result of over-speeding.
“We have always warned drivers to stop over-speeding and over-loading of passengers but they always prefer the money they will make to their lives and that of the passengers.
“Look at these tyres. They?are all second hand. These drivers are?risking peoples’ lives.'' (NAN)