Leading inter-city transporter, Peace Mass Transit (PMT) Limited, has been cleared of blame with respect to the recent fatal accidents involving the company’s buses in Umuahia, capital of Abia State, and Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

The clean bill of health is contained in the official reports of the two recent accidents written by the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). The reports sighted by News Express put the blame on the vehicles that hit the PMT buses in the two cases.

In the case of the Umuahia accident which happened around the Abia Tower, the PMT bus was said to be parked by the road side when a truck coming from the opposite direction left its lane and crushed the minibus, resulting in the death of the driver and all the passengers.

Speaking today in Enugu at the launch of the defensive driving campaign by PMT, the company’s Chairman and CEO, Mr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi, confirmed that the owner of the truck has been taken to court by PMT and that the company hopes to get justice both for itself and for its dead passengers.

On the police and FRSC reports clearing PMT of blame in the two accidents, Mr. Onyishi said they were not for the press.

He emotionally lamented the two accidents, noting that the one in Umuahia was one of the worst ever witnessed by PMT since it started operations 21 years ago. “I have been mourning the death of my drivers and passengers,” a visibly sad Mr. Onyishi said. He said it was because of this that his company did not comment on the accidents before now despite it being wrongly blamed in some quarters, especially in the Social Media. “I felt that since we were still mourning, it was not the time for us to start defending ourselves,” he said.

The PMT Chairman highlighted the measures taken by the company to ensure the safety of its passengers. These include pioneering the carrying of three passengers per seat and the use of speed limiters since 2009. He also stressed that the company goes the extra mile to ensure that its buses are in good condition, trains and cares for the welfare of its drivers, puts patrol teams on the road while also electronically tracking all buses. He denied that PMT drivers are encouraged to make return trips in a day, saying that the contrary is the case and that no driver is allowed to load except it is his turn to do so according to the schedule prepared in advance by the relevant department.

“With over 3,000 buses on the road, there is no way we can say that there would not be accidents but we will continue to do our best. We also welcome solutions from the public because we cannot claim to know it all,” Mr. Onyishi said.

He announced that the company’s patrol teams would be equipped with breath testers, saying: “Every driver must be tested and if you test positive to alcohol you get fired on the spot; you hand over your keys and we hand you over to the police.

On the defensive driving campaign for PMT drivers, he said: “The idea is that you drive yourself and drive the other person.”

•Photo shows PMT Chairman/CEO, Samuel Maduka Onyishi.