Get Guardian on GoogleBarely days after Gombe State was thrown into mourning by a tragic road accident that killed seven natives of Lawanti village in Akko Local Government Area while travelling to a wedding in Borno State, another devastating crash on Monday claimed the lives of six staff members of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Gombe, deepening the state’s grief.
The National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Alhassan Yahya, who is an indigene of the state, broke the news via his Facebook page.
“Six journalists died in a car crash, another sad day for the journalism profession in Gombe State,” he wrote.
Our correspondent gathered that the journalists lost their lives in a road accident that occurred along the Billiri–Kumo Road while they were returning from the wedding ceremony of a colleague held in the Billiri Local Government Area of the state.
A staff member of the television station, who confirmed the incident, disclosed that those who died in the crash included Manu Haruna Kwami, Manager, Administration; Zarah Umar, Manager, News; Isa, an Editor; Musa Tabra, a retired Manager, News; Aminu, a driver; and Adams, who managed the station’s Startimes operations.
Several others sustained varying degrees of injuries in the accident.
Those injured were identified as the station’s Government House Correspondent, Emmanuel Akila, Steven Doddo, Nina, and Jonathan Bara. They were said to be receiving medical attention at different health facilities in the state.
The incident has sent shockwaves across the media community in Gombe State, coming amid renewed concerns over the safety of road travel in the region.
