Seven employees of a new hotel along the Ozoro-Asaba Expressway, Ellu, in Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, were killed in a road accident on Wednesday.
The hotel said to be owned by a man nicknamed
Oduduyekeyeke was deserted as the news of the death of the seven men, including the hotel manager, broke.
An eyewitness said the accident occurred around 8pm about a kilometre from the hotel.
The vehicle conveying the employees was said to be returning from a sensitisation rally organised by the management for the newly employed workers when it ran into a stationary lorry, killing seven out of the eight passengers in the bus.
A source in the family of one of the deceased said the death of the boys from Ozoro was ‘’suspicious’’.
He alleged all the boys that wore the hotel branded T-shirts died, except the one who refused to wear the shirt.
However, it was learnt, that the hotel management attempted, with the help of middle men, to quietly negotiate for compensation over the death of the boys, a move which the deceased families rejected.
The Ozoro Divisional Police Officer, Godwin Dagbar, a Chief Superintendent of Police, confirmed the accident, saying the vehicles involved in the accident had been moved to the police station.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Niger Delta Youth Movement on Thursday condemned the killing and violent crimes in Delta State.
The group lamented the kidnap of the Warri Area Manager of PPMC, Mr. William Enoh, and the death of a security aide attached to him.
In a statement by the National President, Mr. Godspower Odenema, the group urged all youths involved in violent crimes in the state to stop forthwith.
It said, “It is with great sadness that the leadership and entire members of the Niger Delta Youth Movement condemn the kidnap of the Area Manager of the Warri PPMC and the killing of his security aide.
“It is high time the people of this region that are still involved in such anti-social acts stopped it because such acts as kidnapping, pipeline vandalism, shutdown of oil well, illegal bunkering and all other acts portray this region in a bad light.”
