Thursday, October 29, 2026 - Mansur Muhammad, the
father of five children who lost their lives after a water tanker rammed into a
tricycle conveying them to school in Gombe State, has recounted his final
moments with the deceased.
The accident occurred Tuesday morning, October 27, 2026 near
Kanady Academy, along APC Square in the state capital’s Government Reserved
Area (GRA).
The deceased were identified as Maryam Mansir Adamu and
Usman Mansir Adamu, both Primary Five pupils of Jekadafari Primary School;
Hauwau Mansir Adamu of Government Junior Secondary School (GJSS), Jekadafari;
Aliyu Mansir Adamu of Government Day Secondary School (GDSS), Ahmadu Gombe; and
Fatima Mansir Adamu, whose school was not specified.
Three other children were injured in the crash and taken to
the hospital for treatment.
On of the surviving children, Umar Mansur, an SS1 student,
said the tricycle was conveying them to school when it fell, after which the
water tanker ran over them.
Umar said he sustained an injury to his leg, while five of
his siblings passed away in the accident.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Sector Commander in
Gombe State, Samson Kaura, confirmed the incident, saying corps personnel
arrived at the scene after the initial rescue operation.
Kaura said FRSC officials later visited the hospital to
ascertain the number of casualties.
A source at the Specialist Hospital, Gombe, said the injured
victims and the drivers involved in the accident were taken to the Federal
Teaching Hospital, Gombe, for medical attention.
The bodies of the five deceased children were deposited at
the mortuary.
Speaking after the accident, Mansur said he received a
telephone call barely 40 minutes after his children left home for school,
informing him that they had been involved in an accident.
He said he was asked to rush to the emergency unit of the
Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, where some of the injured children had been
taken.
When he arrived at the hospital, he saw two of his children
alive but could not find the other five.
He later learnt that the bodies of the deceased children had
been taken to the Specialist Hospital, Gombe.
Mansur said one of the children had given his telephone
number to the person who called to inform him about the accident.
He said he rushed to the hospital, hoping to find all his
children alive, but was devastated when he learnt that five of them had passed
away.
“The tricycle rider told me that the other children were at
the Specialist Hospital. When I got there, I was directed to the mortuary,
where I saw the bodies of my five children laid out in a row,” he said.
Mansur said the sight was unbearable, adding that he was the
only person allowed to see the bodies because his wives were considered too
traumatised to be taken to the mortuary.
He said he had been unwell that morning and had a fever,
which prevented him from taking the children to school himself.
His junior wife, who is the mother of three of the deceased
children, therefore contacted a tricycle rider to convey them to school.
The children, he recalled, had left home in good spirits,
repeatedly telling him, “Abba, we are going to school.”
“I kept responding, ‘May Allah grant you success.’ I never
knew that was going to be the last time I would see them,” he said.
He particularly remembered his son, Usman, who had
complained that he did not have a pen to take to school.
Mansur said he told the boy that he would not buy him an
expensive pen because he frequently misplaced them. Instead, he gave him money
to buy a cheaper one.
“Usman said, ‘Abba, thank you.’ I did not know that I would
never see him again,” he said.
The father said the news of the accident nearly made him
lose his breath.
He added that he was still struggling to come to terms with
the loss of five of his children in a single incident.
Mansur, who has 12 children from two wives, said only seven
remained following the tragedy.
“Allah gave them to me, and He has taken them back. I am
trying to accept it as a trial from Him,” he said.
He added that the children suffered severe head injuries in the crash.
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