From Paul Orude, Bauchi
A herdsman who was traveling over an international cattle route in Bauchi State with his animals was almost saved from death when a Toyota Hiarce bus crushed them.
The incident, which happened at the international Cattle Route near Daben Kasuwa, on the Bauchi – Maiduguri highway, left one of his cows dead, two others and a donkey critically injured.
The herdsman, Lawali Alhaji Usman, said he was returning from Cameroon to Niger Republic when the accident happened in Nigeria.
“We were crossing the Bauchi – Maiduguri highway when the vehicle hit my animals l was lucky to have escaped ‘
Our Correspondent met the dead cow covered with leaves while the donkey was seen writhing in pain.
More herdsman were seen crossing their animals through the cattle route, created during the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo, ín their hundreds, forcing vehicles to match break.
Leader of Daben Kasuwa Community, Abubakar Mohammed, who is known as the Ciroman Daben, called on the federal government to address the problem of that cattle route.
Mohammad said the government must put a sign board that will alert motorists of the cattle route.
He also said the accident happened because there was a deep steep on the other end of the road that makes animal crossing difficulty.
“It takes time for the cattle to jump to cross because of the deep steep. The government should fill it to prevent such accidents in the future
Abubakar Bello, another herdsman said many accidents have been happening on that road because of the deep steep by the shoulder of the road.
He said some years back he lost two sheep during a motor accident.
Driver of the Bauchi State Government vehicle with registration number FST 52 DE, Alhaji Bala, said he was the only one on the Hiarce bus.
Bala said he was on his way to Bauchi from Darazo when he suddenly encountered a fog and the next thing he knew was he saw a hoard of cattle.
He said he was able to control the bus to reduce casualty but in the end knocked down four animals, killing a cow.
Bala was not injured in the accident but the brand new bus was seriously dented, with broken windows , damaged radiator among other damages.
The herdsman was seen watching his dying Donkey, left with a fractured foreleg and damaged head and two seriously injured cows at the time of this report.
