.As FRSC confirms 6 dead, 5 injured in Ibadan road accident
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The newly posted Divisional Police Officer, DPO in Agbarho Division in Delta State alongside some other officers have been reportedly ambushed and shot dead by a gang of kidnappers.
The tragedy, according to sources occurred around 1am Monday, two days after the DPO identified as CSP Jega resumed office at the Agbarho Divisional Command.
Daily Champion learnt that the late DPO together with the DPO, Orerokpe division, CSP Paul, had jointly led their men for a kidnap rescue operation at about 1:am in the early hours of Monday, when they were ambushed by members of the kidnap gang, at a point close to the Agbarho rail station.
The suspected kidnappers were said to have welcomed the security teams with hail of bullets while in the exchange of fire, the new DPO and some policemen were reportedly killed while the Orerokpe DPO missed death narrowly and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital where doctors are presently battling to save his life.
In his reaction to the killing, a Warri-based activist, Israel Joe, said: “I feel very pained about this news. This was the same DPO I spoke with yesterday about the conduct of his men who demanded money from a citizen, and he rescued the situation immediately, cautioning his men not to try that again under his watch.
“This is very tearful, I can, to some extent, attest to the characters of these men. I wish to convey my condolence to the Nigeria Police Force, the CP Delta State Command, entire family and friends of the police who lost their lives in a quest to save society in the front line of duty. None of these demons should be spared by the force”.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer for Delta State Command, SP Bright Edafe, confirmed the tragedy.
“They (the police team) were ambushed. But it’s only the DPO that we lost,” he stated.
.As FRSC confirms 6 dead, 5 injured in Ibadan road accident
In another development, The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oyo State Command, has confirmed the death of six persons in an accident involving multiple vehicles on Monday at Oke Eleshin, Amuloko area of the State.
The FRSC Public Education Officer in the State, Mayowa Odewo, told newsmen in Ibadan on Monday in a text message that five persons were injured in the accident.
Odewo said eleven persons were involved in the accident, while the five vehicles involved in the accident were two tricycles, two trucks and a Sienna car.
He said the five injured persons had been taken to Amuloko City Hospital by good Samaritans, while the corpses were taken to University College Hospital, Ibadan, before the arrival of FRSC personnel.
Odewo urged drivers to adhere strictly to road safety rules and regulations in order to reduce avoidable crashes.
An eyewitness told Newsmen that among the death were pupils and a mother to one of the pupils.
The witness said that a trailer appeared to have lost control and rammed into the vehicles.
The ill-fated articulated vehicle was carrying tiles and other building materials , and it crashed into other vehicles .
Scores of people present at the scene could not hold their emotions , as they shed tears over the unfortunate accident .
Among the injured was a pupil whose mother reportedly died in the crash.
Four of the injured who were conveyed to the Amuloko City Hospital nearby included two primary school children treated as out- patients while two with severe injuries have been admitted for proper treatment.
The dead were conveyed to a hospital that was not yet ascertained.
A staff of the Oyo Road Transport Maintenance Agency (OYRTMA) who spoke on a condition of anonymity at the scene, said: “The accident occurred in the early hours of Monday. It was caused by brake failure of the trailer that was descending the slope of the road.
Having lost control, it crushed a tricycle popularly called Keke NAPEP. Another lorry conveying soft drinks which was coming from behind it and tried to avoid hitting the trailer in front, and in the process hit and crushed another Keke NAPEP. We learnt that six persons died while five persons sustained injuries. They have all been conveyed away from here.”
The accident caused a serious gridlock with passengers alighting and trekking. Many parked their vehicles by the road sides pending when security operatives will clear the vehicles from the road.
Aside the two articulated vehicles and the two tricycles involved, two other cars were damaged in the multiple accident.
Sympathisers, who were prevented from burning the vehicles blamed the drivers, (who had escaped) claiming the accident could have been minimised if the driver of the one that lost confrol had swerved into a ditch instead of facing the incoming tricycle.
Security operatives on ground included men of the Operation Burst, OYRTMA, Police, Road Safety, Amotekun, and local vigilantes.
When contacted, the Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Oyo Command, Mrs. Rosemary Alo confirmed the accident but said she would officially confirm when her men brief her appropriately.
