Community Protests Alleged Negligence As Police Officer Dies In Car Crash

Leaders and elders of Ikot Etim, in Ukanafun local government area of Akwa Ibom State have expressed sadness over the death of their kinsman, SP Ubong Etokabasi Udom, in a fatal road crash.

LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that the sad incident occurred at the Ekom Iman portion of the Uyo-Abak Road at night when the deceased officer who was returning from duty, rammed headlong into a parked truck covering the entire road.

He died as bystanders and other witnesses reputedly struggled to disentangle him from the heavily wrecked car for onward transmission to the nearby University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH).

However, the aggrieved kinsmen and women under the aegis of the Ukanafun Professionals’ Association (UK-PRO), have laid blame on government and other relevant agencies including the Police and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), for lack of proactive measures and insensitivity towards human welfare.

In a communique made available to journalists after an emergency meeting on the matter, the expressed deep condolences to the bereaved family, and decried the Police Command’s silence since the late Ubong Etokabasi Udom, died in active service.

“Really, we are a micro group of people deeply concerned with the plights and progress of all in Ukanafun. The brotherhood strand is one bond with unflinching binding force defining our relationship within and outside the organisation.

The UK-PRO remains proud of the late Ubong Etokabasi Udom, notwithstanding that he was not a member of the group.

“Until his sudden death on the night of May 3, 2026, he was a Police officer, rising to the rank of Superintendent. On the strength of a number of requisite factors, he was a thorough bred professional.

“On top of meritorious services, he exerted in the course of his duties in the Nigeria Police Force, which we reliably gathered, was appreciated at the top echelon of the Force, his unalloyed identification with, as well as quest for, Ukanafun development within the space of his reachability was exemplary and remain recommendable.

“From incontrovertible accounts, including certain authorities, that the deceased died in an auto crash caused by a truck that was parked on an express way, the UK-PRO can assert, without any equivocation, that the death was avoidable.

“We believe that the regulatory agencies saddled with road safety compliance failed to live up to their responsibilities, especially at the particular circumstance culminating in the death. It is common knowledge that vehicles, much less heavy duty ones, are not supposed to be parked on roads.

“Whenever and wherever there is a compelling need for motor vehicles to be parked on roads, caution signs must be properly placed for commuters to notice far ahead. But that was not done in the case of this subject matter.

“Another nakedness in our society exposed in this situation is in the area of emergency measures to save lives in time of disaster. The UK-PRO finds it difficult to run away from the thinking that the death of the Superintendent of Police may not be farther from glaring gaps on the part governmental authorities.

“And when death becomes the immediate consequence of gross governmental negligence, everybody, no matter how high or low, becomes vulnerable. It is more disturbing that more than a week after the incident occurred no words have been heard concerning the death from any public office, including the Nigeria Police Force.

“From the foregoing, we believe that relevant authorities such as the FRSC, the Nigeria Police Force, the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Transport, the Uyo Local Government Council, among other duty-bound governmental bodies, owe the human community explanation regarding the unlawful parking that led to the death of Ubong Udom.

“The UK-PRO, therefore, calls on those governmental organizations to tell the public what they did and failed to do that resulted in the death of the topnotch professional.

“Given how touchy the death has been to us, both individually and collectively, even from a relatively remote position, it is not hard to know how deeply grieving, depressed and downcast the immediate family of the deceased has been over the unfortunate occurrence.

“In the midst of the widespread bereavement, let it be assured that the UK-PRO will do all within its best to stand with those left behind by Ubong Etokabasi Udom,” the communique signed by the UK-PRO convener, Engr Twoweeks Umoh, read.