A Toyota Hiace car belonging to the fleet of the Bauchi State Government on Monday ran into herds of cattle crossing the Bauchi – Maiduguri highway, killing three cattle and injuring a donkey.
Tribune Online reports that the herder, Lawali Alhaji Usman barely escaped death as he was also crossing the International Cattle Route near Daben Kasuwa in Ganjuwa LGA when the accident occurred.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Lawali Alhaji Usman, said that he was returning from Cameroon to Niger Republic to graze his herd.
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He said: “We were crossing the Bauchi – Maiduguri highway when the vehicle hit my animals, l was lucky to have escaped.”
Wikki Times gathered that Alhaji Bala, driver of the Bauchi State Government vehicle with the plate registration number FST 52 DE said he was driving a bus to Bauchi from Darazo when the accident happened.
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According to him, the atmosphere was suddenly foggy when he saw the herd of cattle crossing the road highway.
Alhaji Musa added that he matched the brakes and was able to control the bus to curtail the casualties but ended up knocking down four animals.
Reacting to the incident, Leader of the Daben Kasuwa Community, Abubakar Mohammed appealed to the federal government to construct signposts and road bumps so as to tackle the issue of cattle routes.
Furthermore, Abubakar Mohammad remarked that the government must react promptly because the route is becoming risky especially because the herders are moving their cattle.
“It takes time for the cattle to jump to cross because of the deep steepness. The government should fill it to prevent such accidents in the future”, he added.
Speaking with another herdsman, Abubakar Bello emphasized that the deep steepness by the shoulder of the road has resulted in several accidents, recollecting that he had lost two sheep during a motor accident some years back.
