Lokoja/Bennin — Death took 106 lives in different forms in three states on Monday and Tuesday, 104 of them through road accidents in Lokoja and Benin, and two by the bullets of kidnappers in Onitsha.

On Tuesday, wailing and sorrow overwhelmed the residents of Lokoja where about 100 people were crushed to death in multiple vehicle accidents caused by the driver of a trailer who lost control at the Lokoja New Market.

The victims, mostly traders and passengers, were killed when the trailer loaded with cement belonging to Dangote Company had break failure and ran into them and 14 on coming vehicles, including passenger buses and five motorcycle taxis.

The tragedy occurred at about noon when the market was at its peak, and threw the city into confusion as thousands rushed to the scene to check for relatives.

Kogi State Deputy Governor, Phillip Salawu, who came to the scene to sympathise with the traders, was nearly lynched by an angry crowd which chased him away and did not allow him to utter a word.

Salawu and other top government officials who arrived the market at 2.07 p.m., were confronted by protesters who shouted slogans denouncing the government and blamed it for their overstay at the market site.

The site lies by the dreaded Abuja Road.

There were conflicting figures of the casualties. The police claimed 50 while the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander, Yomi Asaniyan, said 26 died and 30 were injured.

But Asaniyan noted that many families had taken some victims away before FRSC officials arrived.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Operation), Owolabi Adetunji, who was at the scene, urged Lokoja Council to advise the traders to move out of the roadside.

Lokoja Council Vice Chairman, Lawrence Ikuboroje, explained that, "The market itself is not too close to the road but people transacting business come to the roadside, which is not encouraging to the Local Government," he said.

A similar accident happened in December last year at Dekina in the state when the driver of a trailer lost control and ran into a market, leading to the death of several people.

In Benin on Tuesday, four persons were also crushed to death by a trailer at the popular Uselu Market on the Ugbowo-Lagos Road.

Eyewitnesses said the Mack trailer, marked XG 633 BEN, had break failure and wanted to avert running into the market when it swerved to the opposite direction.

The four persons crushed included a young man, two motorcycle riders, and a woman named Rita Oshawo, a nurse, whose husband and children were waiting on the other side of the road.

Edo State FRSC Sector Commander, Henry Olatunji, warned traders against street trading which he said is illegal and endangers their lives and those of others.

Tragedy had struck in Anambra State on Monday evening when kidnappers killed both the policeman attached to Ogbaru Main Market Traders Association Patron, Sam Mendu, and his driver on Ezeiweka Road Awada, a suburb of Onitsha.

After the killings, the kidnapers abducted Mendu and the market President, Eugene Nwanne. Rising tension led to the closure of the market.

Ogbaru Market Vice President, Emmanuel Onuka, said Mendu and Nwanne were kidnapped at about 7 p.m. while returning from Awka where they did some business and had a meeting with Governor Peter Obi's Assistant, Sylvester Nwobu-Alor.

Police Public Relations Officer, Emeka Chukwuemeka, confirmed the incident, but said contact has not been made with the abductors.

The Chairman of the Amalgamated Markets Traders Association of Anambra State, Okwudili Ezenwankwo, attributed the incident to the age long dispute in the market, which has led to the death of two former Chairmen and others.