At least seven people have been confirmed dead on Saturday after they were involved in an accident near Ehor village along the Benin-Ekpoma road in Edo State.
The victims include five adults and two children and they were driving in an Audi 80 car which had a head-on collision with a Toyota Hilux van.
Occupants of the Hilux vehicle were understood to be protocol officers of the Edo State Government house, Benin City.
They were said to be heading for Ekpoma, headquarters of Esan West local government area as part of the advance team of Governor Godwin Obaseki, who was billed to attend the convocation ceremony of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.
Confirming the incident, Edo Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Mr. Anthony Oko said the two children died on their way to the hospital while the five adults died on spot.
Oko added that all occupants of the Audi car died while only the driver of the Hilux sustained minor injuries. He attributed the cause of the accident to lost of control by the driver of the Audi car.
The FRSC boss said the driver entered a pothole and rammed into the hilux van.
The State Commissioner of Police, Danmallam Mohammed, who confirmed the incident, described it as “very unfortunate”.